


Coincidence? I Think Not

by Padfoots_Pawprint



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: For Klanceweek 2018 - Day 5: Flowers/Planet, Fortune Telling, Laith, M/M, Prophecies, and a whole bunch of romantic stuff, fate destined, i'm a mess, keith and lance, kinda like soulmates?, klance, the cliche stuff, the fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-04-04 13:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14021382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Padfoots_Pawprint/pseuds/Padfoots_Pawprint
Summary: While on a mission, a mysterious fortune teller informs Lance and Keith that fate has destined them to be together. Despite both being sure that this isn't the case, a series of strange, very romantic things start to happen around them and they have Lance and Keith wondering whether this is fate or just a lot of weird coincidences.





	1. The Prophecy

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this is a mistake, but at least it's out there. I should be focusing on "Soul to Soul". I'm, like, 11 chapters into that story, but no. I gotta start this too. Wow. This was technically for Klanceweek 2018, but when have I ever put stuff out on time?  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender

Shiro entered the common room in his civilian clothes with a brown cloak wrapped around his body. Keith sat up a little straighter in his seat, his eyes flickering between Shiro and the card game happening right next to him. “Alright, team, we’ve got a new mission, so I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get to work immediately.”

“A mission? Nice,” Lance threw down his cards and Keith watched as Hunk and Pidge cried out at what was no doubt a winning hand. “What are we up to?”

“We’re actually going on a reconnaissance mission.” Shiro threw each of a them a cloak that matched his. “Put these on. We don’t want to stand out, so we’ll be wearing our civilian clothes and these to keep us from standing out too much. We need information on an item that the princess has identified as a unique treaty item. She's arranged a meeting with an old ally that used to be loyal to her father when she was a child. Princess Allura hopes that we will be able to regain this ally and their planets support against Zarkon, and to do that she intends to bring the Kalafin as a gift to them.”

“Where will we be searching?” asked Pidge. “Is this going to be another trip to the space mall?”

“No, actually, but something quite close to it,” said Shiro with a grin. “We’ll actually be going to looking for this particular item in pairs.”

Lance frowned, his gaze fixed away from Keith’s. “Okay, but why?”

Shiro crossed his arms firmly. “I don't want you getting lost.”

“I'm not going to get lost,” scoffed Lance. “ _I'm_ not the one that wanders off just because I think something looks a little weird.”

“I’m sorry, Lance. That’s not what I meant. I don’t want _any of you_ getting lost.”

Keith bristled at that. “For one, I did that for a good reason. We found out about the Galra harnessing quintessence,” said Keith, “and two, you're the one that normally gets distracted by things.”

“Well, I-”

“Lance, do you understand the mission?” cut in Shiro.

“Yes, sir.” Lance saluted, effectively side-tracked.

“Keith?”

Keith sighed. “Yeah, I’ve got it,” he said.

Lance continued with, “Is the item technical? Can I take Hunk?”

“No, you may not. Hunk has his own mission to complete. And we don’t know that much about the Kalafin. We’ve got its name and what it looks like. The image has already been loaded onto your communicators. It’ll have to do for now.” Shiro tightened the cloak around his body. “Now remember, team, we need information on where to find this Kalafin. The planet we’re on now is known for its marketplace. It’s very similar to the space mall, but Coran believes that this place is well known for its gossip and rumour channels.”

“That’s right,” said Coran proudly. “If there’s anyone who knows even a fraction about the Kalafin’s whereabouts, they’re going to roaming around the market. Or selling!”

“Pidge and I will be searching the south side of the marketplace while Lance and Keith examine the other half,” said Shiro. “Are we clear?”

Keith nodded while Lance. “So I have to be babysat?”

“Only if you consider yourself a baby,” pointed out Pidge and that seemed to quiet Lance for now. They stayed in their docking area as Allura described the item once more. As far as Keith could tell, the Kalafin was designed to enchant those around it, similar to hypnosis. Lance, on the other hand, wagered that it was a musical instrument that, when played, would give off a pleasing and relaxed sound. Needless to say that when the pair of them began their search in the local planet’s marketplace, they had conflicting ideas on what they wanted to look for.

“Dude, it’s gotta be an instrument,” said Lance as they approached the market.

“Sound can be replicated easily and Allura described it like it was some kind of rare, trance inducing plant. We already know that Alteans have a bias towards flora and other plant life. This gift would be right up their alley.”

“I don’t see it.” Lance groaned. “This thing is supposed to convince and enchant. A ‘delight to all the senses’ is what Allura called it. Music does exactly that! The item looks exactly like some kind of thin instrument. The edges flare out for show. Unless it’s kind of like a trumpet.”

“Lance, come on. An instrument? It’s got to be a flower of some kind. It kind of looks like a weird mix between a California poppy and a water lily.”

“If it is a flower, then it’s pretty. Nothing like the mariposa, of course, those are much better.”

Keith frowned. “Mariposa?”

“Yeah? It’s white, usually has three petals. Kind of like an orchid but not?” When Keith continued to look perplexed, Lance chuckled quietly to himself. “Don’t worry about it. Why don’t we just split up to look?” offered Lance. “I bet I could find it before you.”

“Shiro doesn’t want us splitting up,” began Keith, vocally cautious but internally preparing to leave. “If you get lost, he’s going to be upset with me.”

“Gee thanks. Forget about worrying after a lost paladin.” Lance’s arm felt warm against the back of Keith’s neck as he slung it over. “Glad to know you care.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I still think that it’s an instrument.”

“Fine.” Keith sighed but offered up a smirk. “You can talk to the stalls on the left and I’ll take the right. That way, we can get twice the work done.”

“Okay,” Lance mock saluted his companion and then set to striking a conversation with the nearest stall owner. Once Keith saw Lance appropriately engaged, he moved to the right of the aisle and tried to get the attention of a tall alien with what looked like a thick beard. The alien was in the process of convincing a hairless alien to buy a necklace.

“It’d match your eyes exactly,” the merchant crooned with a thick accent. “Finest Borkanion crystals mined from the deep planetoid caves and ground into the most vibrant blue sand in the whole galaxy. To be kept in clear bridal contains ensures that whoever sees the powder will surely fall in love with the beauty within.”

“Is bridal a type of glass?” asked Keith. The merchant’s eyes flickered to Keith’s and they alien they’d been talking to slipped back into the crowd. The merchant groaned loudly and turned to face Keith. “Ah, of course,” said Keith quickly, “How could I have forgotten?”

“How could you have?” The merchant asked. “It’s the most common container substance in the whole galaxy!”

“Right…” Keith pulled a holoprojector from his pocket and pulled up a photo of the item. The blue and gray depiction of the flower hovered to life and Keith watched the alien survey it curiously. “Have you ever seen something like this by chance?”

In the end, the merchant didn’t know quite what Keith was looking for, but his comments had been enough to give Keith a bit of a lead. There was a planet in the next star system over with a planet of singing aliens that knew a lot about enchantment. The same planet was coincidentally where most bridal glass was created. If Keith was lucky, they would be knowledgeable in this enchanting plant that Allura wanted. He left the stall and continued down the aisle, inquiring after people that would know where bridal glass could be found.

Keith traveled from stall to stall, but it yielded little to no results. He stumbled upon a stall selling what looked like flowers. The assortment was bursting with colour, and  and hopefully inquired after the flower Allura sought. Although they had no leads, the urged him to take a look around the stall to see if there was anything he’d like.

“Are all these flowers flown in?” Keith asked, eyeing some of the large red flowers that changed colour when he touched them.”

“Yes, from across the galaxy,” the merchant said eagerly.

“They’re really nice.”

Keith looked around at some of the flowers on display, each one more beautiful than the last, until his eyes fell upon a small bucket off to the side of the stall. “What are those?” he asked, pointing at some of the flowers in the bucket.

“Not as good quality,” the merchant said. “They’ll die within the next feel cycles. Not as many clients want them so we’ll throw them out when we leave. Plus, they smell horrible. I don’t really know why we bought them in the first place.”

“Do you mind if I take a couple?” asked Keith. He crouched down and brushed at the flowers in the bucket. One was a pale orange, with petals that flared out wildly like Pidge’s hair. The one next to it was a small, white flower. The edges seemed to be yellowing, but the stamen remained tall and strong. Tentatively, he took a quick sniff of the white one, and was pleasantly surprised by the scent. Perhaps aliens didn’t share the same taste in floral scents as humans did.

“Be my guest,” they said, before taking their attention away and focusing on drawing more people in to buy the flowers. Keith snagged the white one and put it in his bag before realizing why exactly he had grabbed it. All that talk of flowers and Lance had him confused, Keith decided. Thinking twice, he decided to grab the orange flower as well so that it wouldn’t seem too strange. A couple flowers for himself wasn’t strange at all.

Keith straightened up, thanked the flower merchant and continued on. Half way through the aisle, he glanced to check on Lance who was currently showing off the zipper of his jacket to a cute alien merchant. Keith glared and headed back to their investigation with muffled annoyance. He carried on through the market and had almost cleared his entire side when he remembered the flower he’d grabbed for Lance in his bag. Keith paused. He checked for his fellow paladin again but realized that his companion had completely vanished.

Keith’s mouth set itself downward, and he looked harder for Lance’s short brown hair amidst the colourful aliens but there was no semblance of human males anywhere.

“Lance?” he called. A few aliens turned to look at him, but others continued through the bazaar without a care in the world. Keith swore at Lance under his breath and started to search for him instead. The enchanted item forgotten, Keith set off, half annoyed half worried. It was ridiculous that they had one simple mission and Lance had gotten lost and likely kidnapped. Again

Keith called out again, trying not to let his worry consume him. He told himself that the concern was only for himself since Shiro would definitely be giving him a lecture if Lance was indeed lost. The longer he searched, the more nervous he became until he was furiously rushing through the bazaar scanning at any flash of brown and green he could. He opened his mouth to call for him again but instead a smooth hand was clapped across it.

“You are so loud, Paladin,” grumped the owner of the hand. Keith’s hand went immediately to the knife strapped at his hip but, before he got there, the alien behind him removed his hand and came into view. It looked like a young, male alien with four sharp eyes and purpled hands. “You’ll disrupt everyone’s business at this rate.”

There was something off putting in that comment and Keith’s hand itched for his knife again. “You know where Lance is,” said Keith.

“I do.”

Keith’s frown deepened, and his mind tried to figure out what exactly he’d be able to do if this alien was the kidnapper. “Are you trying to help me or ransom for him? Because if it’s the latter-”

“Then I’m not doing a very good job. Yes, I know.” Keith blinked. He’d been just about to say those words. “We’ve been expecting you.”

“That sounds super ominous.”

“Lance is waiting for us with my grandmother. You’ll need to come with us if you want him back though. He doesn’t seem to want to leave.”

Keith followed the alien reluctantly, memorizing the path there just in case. They wove through the crowd until reaching a tall blue tent. There wasn’t a lot of people crowded around it except for a couple of smaller aliens, like children, trying to peek between the thick flaps of the tent. The male alien pulled a flap open and allowed Keith to slip in first. The interior was bigger than the outside, and here in the corner of the tent, Lance could be seen sitting with a woman who reminded Keith of an octopus. She had multiple, long, smooth arms with a wide piece of cloth that covered her face like a veil. Lance sat at her side, eagerly chatting away with her about something. Keith tried not to sigh too obviously, but he allowed his shoulders to loosen just a fraction.

“Keith! You’re here!” Lance seemed to light up at the sight of his fellow paladin. The white flower in Keith’s bag felt lighter again.

“I am. Where the hell did you go? Shiro said not to split up.”

“It seemed like a good idea. Besides, Grandma Lae says that she knows where our item is.”

“Really?”

“My grandmother is very wise,” the other alien cut in. “Sometimes she gets visions of the future and her unseeing eyes can see things even we cannot.”

“But she knows where it is?”

“Indeed,” said the younger alien as he sat beside his grandmother. “She mentioned that the Kalafin is in your future, so that you are sure to find it. Though I am unimportant, you may call me Lee.”

“Grandma Lae and Lee,” said Keith slowly. “And what do you want in return?” Lee made a sound of questioning while Keith caught the hint of a smile behind Grandma Lae’s veil. Keith tried to clarify. “I mean, what do you want me to pay you? You’re not doing this for free. What’s your price?”

Lee blinked slowly before smiling and giving his grandmother a side hug while a stray hand patted Lance’s shoulder. “My grandmother would offer her services for more than our current price had your Blue paladin not proven his relation to Voltron. We’ve been expecting this visit for a long time, and Lance has kindly provided us half of the payment. You hold the other half.”

“How’d he do that?”

“They could sense my awesome,” Lance said as he flexed theatrically. Though Grandma Lae could not see, she laughed anyway. The sound reminded Keith of children and rainfall; it was high pitched, youthful, and pettered from her mouth.

“So, what was our price?” Keith asked.

“Not to worry,” Lee said. “The Blue Paladin has paid us with his stories and the emotions that are associated. He provided the feeling for the future. You are to provide the life.”

“How exactly am I supposed to do that? I don’t have anything to pay you with.”

“The bag.” Lance, Keith and Lee looked at Grandma Lae as she spoke. “The symbol of life and death. You already have it in your bag.”

“My-” Keith felt his voice trail off, “Oh.” The flowers were still in his bag. He opened the bag and stared at the flowers inside. It was mostly empty, so both flowers were still in relatively good condition.

“Just one,” said Grandma Lae. She smiled at him in a way that was far too knowing for Keith’s liking.

Keith looked at the flowers in his bag, took a breath, and pulled out the orange one. The white one, the one he had picked with Lance in mind, stayed hidden within his bag. “Here.” He placed it on the table in front of Grandma Lae. Keith took a seat next to Lance and watched Lee sit with his grandmother.

“Are you ready?”

She smiled and nodded, pressing two hands on the table while the other hands pressed together in pairs as if in prayer. Keith wondered how this was going to work, and Lee kept quiet about any of the specifics.

Keith locked eyes with Lance. His skepticism must have been more than a little obvious because Lance took to glaring at him from across the table “They’re nice enough to tell us our fortune,” said Lance, before turning to grin at Lee’s blind grandmother. “I bet you’re going to see something amazing. Probably us just finding this mystical instrument, forming a crazy strong alliance, getting a parade, and then saving the world.”

“Lance, don’t jinx it,” warned Keith.

“No world saving yet, Blue Paladin,” said Grandma Lae, the whites of her eyes glowing gold. “No, but you will celebrate anyway. You will have achieved something beautiful, something that you’ve been dreaming of for a long time.”

“I actually do get the parade?” Lance eyes twinkled and Keith rolled his eyes. His ire melted into amusement.

“You fall in love,” said Grandma Lae, smiling despite the intense glow, “and it is so, so beautiful.”

Keith watched as Lance stared at the woman in shock before a pretty pink glow overtook his cheeks. He regained his composure and shot the blind woman a wink. “Of course they’re beautiful. I have great taste.”

Grandma Lae nodded sagely and Keith sighed. This had to be the most generic fortune telling he’d ever been to. He was almost surprised that Lance would fall for something that was so generic. “They are beautiful, fair, determined. They have spirit,” said Grandma Lae. “Brave and bold. They love you intensely, in a way they have not loved any other. I can see you are both together, in love, at the shores where you find the Kalafin.”

The shores? Keith opened his mouth to ask more about the flower’s whereabouts when Lance cut him off, bouncing eagerly in his chair. “Nice,” he cheered, “Can you tell me what she looks like?”

“Would you not prefer the Kalafin’s location first?” said Lee with surprise. Keith couldn’t help but nod in vigorous agreement. “My grandmother cannot hold her visions for very long. Is that not the most important part of your mission?”

“’She’ is what you would call a ‘boy’,” said Grandma Lae. Keith felt himself swivel to see Lance’s face. If Keith had expected horrified, that’s certainly not what he got. Lance’s expression was more calculated than shocked, and when he spoke, he picked up his previous enthusiasm with ease.

“A guy, huh?” Lance nodded to himself before he beamed at Grandma Lae. “Can you tell me what _he_ looks like, then?”

“I don’t need to,” said Grandmother Lae. “I may be blind, but his voice is as clear to me as what I can see.” Her cheeks crinkled into a smile. “You can see him too; as clear as he is sitting before you.”

“I’m sorry,” said Keith finally. Perhaps if he entertained the notion that this was an actual reading, then they would get a little more information. “We’re really just here for the location of the Kalafin. How important is this love interest that Lance is supposed to magically end up with when we find the Kalafin? Is he some kind of guide? Or a diplomat on the planet we need to go to? Who are you talking about?”

“Why you, Red Paladin.” Her shining eyes fell upon him and Keith was blinded by its light. “Fate has decided that the two of you are destined to be together, love each other, and live for each other till the end of time.”

“What?” cried Lance while Keith crumpled in his seat. His mind was racing as fast as his heart. Keith wasn’t sure how he managed to feel like shriveling up and exploding at the same time. How was it possible that Lance was meant to love him? He and Lance were just becoming better friends and learning how to work together. He’d had a hard enough time trying to like Lance and have Lance actually like him back. How did this alien expect Keith to love someone like Lance? How would she _know_ how he would feel? How?

“You and him; blue and red,” she continued with this dreamy look on her face. “Fate has long since destined you both to be lovers.”

Lance swallowed, his expression remaining panicked. “How- I don’t-” Keith stared at Grandma Lae, his face flushing. “We’re lovers of justice. Lovers of galaxy-wide peace from the Galra empire! Not- you know.”

“Of course, Blue Paladin. I understand. You are both all of that, and more. Perhaps you do not see the tendrils of affection so clearly now, but you will come to.” She smiled warmly. “Both of you are so lucky to have found one another so young and amidst such turmoil.”

“The flower,” cut in Keith now that he was over the initial shock. His voice didn’t sound like his own, but he pressed on. “What about the flower? How does that relate to all this?”

Grandma Lae’s gaze turned Keith again. “Kalafin begs honesty of whomever seeks it, and when you and the Blue Paladin come together before it, then you shall be able to bring it to the princess.”

“Grandmother,” said Lee insistently and Grandma Lae nodded slowly. The light in her eyes flickered.

“You both stand on the shores, like I said, of the Arfaxal River. It sits in the Galfore system, on the planet with three moons.”

“Thanks.” Keith stood up sharply and Lance’s focus shifted to him.

“Whoa, man, where are you going? Don’t you want to know more about…the Kalafin?”

They both knew that Lance was more interested in learning why exactly this fortune teller foresaw Keith and Lance in love when they would find the Kalafin. If they found the Kalafin. Keith wanted to shake him, but most of all he wanted to leave the tent. He felt overheated, and embarrassed and _angry_ , somehow, simultaneously. “We’ve got a mission?” Keith said instead.  From Allura? For a peace meeting?”

“Sorry, sorry, you’re right.” Lance turned back to Grandma Lae, his cheeks still dark with colour. “We’re going to have to wrap this up. Grandma Lae-” Lance began, but her eyes had lost their brilliant glow completely and were no longer the same. Instead, the alien was hunched over in her seat, exhausted, but her expression remained one of pure joy.

“My grandmother’s vision is over. She will need time to rest.” Lee patted Lance’s shoulder. “I am sorry, Blue Paladin, but my Grandmother will no longer be able to speak with you today. Perhaps if you came back in a few cycles we could-“

“No, Keith’s right.” Lance stood as well and shimmied out of his seat. “We have to get the Kalafin as soon as possible. Grandma Lae gave us a location, and for that we thank both of you.”

“I thank you for allowing my Grandmother to access such a wonderful future. I am sure that she will be talking about what she has said for ages to come. It was a gift to have you and the Red Paladin in our presence. I am sure you have much to talk about.” Lee bowed to them and ushered them out of the tent. “I wish you the best of luck in your search for the Kalafin.”

The moment the tent flaps closed, Keith let out a sigh of relief and Lance groaned. “Finally.”

Lance turned to Keith, his eyes wide. There were still the remnants of a blush on his cheeks, “Keith...” Lance began, but Keith remained firm.

“Lance, you can’t tell me that you actually believe all that stuff.”

“What do you mean?” Lance blinked at him in shock. “She read my fortune, Keith. We’re supposed to find the Kalafin together.”

“Right, and we’re supposed to be _together_ together when we find it.” Keith felt like it was hard to breathe. “That sounded pretty fake to me.”

“I-“

Keith fixed his cloak and started to head back to the ship. “She said we were destined to be lovers, Lance. That’s can’t be possible.”

“Of course, you’re right,” agreed Lance, a little too quickly in Keith’s opinion. Lance caught up with him, his long strides allowing him to be at Keith’s side in seconds. “That does sound crazy, but if we don’t believe her then does that mean we don’t believe that Kalafin grows on the shores of some space river? Because that means we have no leads.”

“So what?” Keith risked a glance at Lance as they walked. Everything in him told him to run, to leave his burning face behind and deny everything. That’s what Lance usually did, after all. Keith could learn to do that too. Besides, the whole business of prophecies and destined lovers sounded as far-fetched as it could get. “You’re saying that we have to be lovers?”

“No, not at all.” Lance was avidly avoiding his gaze, as he continued. “You said it can’t be possible right? Maybe she got it mixed up, but we have to believe that she has some kind of prophetic power.”

“Lance, we don’t have to believe anything. We have one movement before we have to show up to that peace keeping mission. We can’t waste time on some prophecy unless we know that it’s a good lead. Who’s to say that she was legit? Maybe the whole thing was a con to get you to pay them.”

“No way! That sweet old alien lady was grandma. We sat and talked together while we waited for you, Keith. Only good people do that.”

Keith was skeptical, he always had been, and this was no exception. This alien not only gave them a fixed location for the item they sought, but then followed it up with claiming that he and Lance were in love? Anyone with eyes could see that it wasn’t the case at all. How could it be?

After Keith had been quiet for too long, Lance sighed and fixed his gaze on the castle as they approached it. “Look Keith, maybe we should, I don’t know, just keep an open mind about it. We don’t have to tell the team about it; maybe just the stuff about the Kalafin. Maybe you’re right in that she was wrong about the whole ‘destined lovers’ thing, but we at least owe it to the team to say that we got something. We can call it a rumour if that makes you feel better about it.”

“A rumour,” said Keith, feeling distinctly uncomfortable but not quite knowing why.

“Yeah. You don’t have to look so distressed about it.” The closer they got to the castle, the more Lance’s confidence seemed to be seeping back into his broad shoulders. “We pretend like it never happened.” The uncomfortable feeling continued to fill him and settled in his lungs. The distance between them felt wider than it had before they had even landed on the planet. “Just relax. We’re just two dudes coming back from a reconnaissance mission that found out some rumours on the potential instrument.”

“Flower,” said Keith distantly, his mind already whizzing through topics before landing in an area he found unfamiliar. He could pretend. It was better than taking the old alien seriously. “It’s a flower.”

“It’s actually _not_ a flower,” said Lance. “I thought we settled this.” He glanced over at Keith warily. “So we’re good?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” said Keith. “She was probably just wrong. A mistake.”

“Right, exactly.”

For now, Keith let himself believe it. It had to be a mistake. Keith tried not to think of the flower in his bag and followed Lance onto the ship, his mind made up for the moment.


	2. Two of Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own VLD

It turned out that the Galfore system was full of bustling planets that were full of rich resources. They had worm-holed to the new system soon after Lance and Keith had debriefed the team on their findings. Both of them had carefully omitted any mention of the fortune teller on Drax Five and seemed more than eager to simply focus on the task at hand. When Allura pulled up her star charts and scanned the system, they realized that there was a thin smattering of purple that indicated Galra-possessed planets.

“It’s good that the Kalafin could bring us here,” said Allura as they floated idly through the edges of the Galfore system. “We’ll have the chance to liberate some of the planets while on our search for the Kalafin. Despite our tip mentioning that the planet has three moons, most of the planets in this system has three moons if not more. We’ll be working to rid as much of the system as possible from the Galra’s influence while we’re here.” She glanced over at Shiro. “I trust that won’t be a problem?”

“Of course not, Princess Allura,” said Shiro loyally. “We’re ready to start when you are.”

“Excellent.” Allura pulled up the image of a nearby a circular planet, one that had two thick white rings around it. “We’ll likely be aiming at liberating this one first.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to go straight to whatever planet has the Arfaxal River?” asked Keith.

“I don’t think so. We don't know which of these planets even has a river by that name. In fact, I we don't know much about this system at all, do we?” asked Pidge suddenly from her own control chair. She turned to face Allura in her seat. “It doesn’t seem like there’s much in the castle’s database.”

“You are correct, Pidge," said Allura, her hands spinning the planets' projection so that it returned to its original view. "Regrettably, there is not much known about the Galfore system. I have never personally been here before, and according to the castle files, neither has my father. Kalafin was a gift the Cortonians gave to my father upon his first diplomatic meeting with them over ten thousand years ago. In giving them Kalafin once we reunite with them, we indicate that we are initiating the union, and are open and honest in our wish for an alliance. However, we’ve never had to find Kalafin on our own, which is where the source of our struggle arises.” Allura gestured to the array of planets and stars on the hologram before her. The planets stretched out as far as they could see on the display in a range of green and orange. “The area we’re in now is mostly unfamiliar to us. The map of this system was likely bought back before even my father was king,” she said with a sigh, “and since then, I’m sure that a lot has changed.”

“It’ll be alright,” said Coran cheerfully. “We can always use this as an opportunity to explore. After all, your father was a bit of a wanderer before he became king. He would have encouraged you to learn what you could about these foreign areas.”

Allura smiled softly at her advisor. "I appreciate the support, Coran. The best case scenario would be that, upon liberating these planets and interacting with the locals, we will be able to gain more insight into which planet has the Kalafin." She looked at each of the paladins firmly. "When we begin to help these nearby planets and free them from the enslavement of the Galra, we should be able to ask them about the Kalafin's whereabouts. There aren't too many planets enslaved by the Galra in this sector, although I feel like that has less to do with Zarkon and more to do with the commanders in charge of this sector. Be ready to fight, but don't assume to know what's happening with these planets. We'll have to be in deep discussion with the populations once we land.”

“That sounds like a plan,” said Shiro, nodding before turning back to the rest of the group. “Team, I want you to suit up. I’ll meet you all when you’re in your lions. We’ll be leaving to liberate the nearest planet on Allura’s mark, so be ready.”

The paladins gave a sound of confirmation and headed off towards their respective hanger doors as Allura busied herself with the huge map.

“Keith.” The red paladin turned to look at Lance who just gave him a thumbs up before stepping through the hanger doors. Keith followed suit into his own hanger, half confused by Lance’s gesture but somehow understanding the intent as well: a “good luck” and a “good job” mingling together. The hanger doors shut, and the elevator took him down to where his lion was waiting, Red's energy already calling him to her as he prepared to leave the castle behind.

The flower he’d picked for Lance still sat safely hidden away in Keith’s room. Giving it to Lance now seemed wrought with a meaning that Keith wasn’t ready for, so he'd settled for hiding the flower, something that reminded him of Earth in its scent. Nobody needed to know the flower's purpose, and nobody (save the old, fortune telling grandmother from Drax 5) even knew that he had it. It was his secret, one that he felt he was going to take to his grave. He'd just wait for the flower to whither on its own. It'd be a shame, he'd told himself, to just throw away a perfectly good flower.

When Keith joined his fellow paladins in the vastness of space, he could see hints of the Galra fleet surrounding the new planet. They orbited the planet in lazy circles, but Keith was already tense and ready to fight. It wouldn't take long for them to be noticed.

“Now that you're all assembled, we shall begin," said Allura, her face flickering over the Red Lion's dashboard. "Paladins, we will be starting with the closest planet. Our star charts don't indicate any name for this particular planet, but we must rid this planet of the Galra's influence regardless and do our best to liberate the natives. We don't know how long the Galra have been here, nor their impact on the population, so I want you all to tread lightly, and engage the Galra in battle when you feel the time is right."

“Yes, Princess, we understand. Right, team?”

There was a unified yes and they moved forward together. “We’re taking a closer look, everyone,” warned Shiro. "I want you all to keep in mind what Allura said."

“Maybe we won’t need to get a closer look,” warned Hunk suddenly. “Looks like they’re coming right for us!”

Keith watched at the Galra ships changed course and headed for their position. He _knew_ that this would happen, but he wasn’t about to say anything. They had a bigger problem in the shape of several armed fighter jets coming their way. “Paladins,” said Shiro, “take down as many as you can.”

“Roger that,” said Keith, flying through space and letting his blasters go after a handful of Galra cruisers that were tailing Pidge.

“You know,” Lance was saying, his voice filling up their comms as they fought, “I know that this is normally how all our battles go down,” he shot at a few cruisers, knicking three in the wings and making one explode, “but I’ve always wondered why we don’t just start with Voltron right out the gate.”

“I mean, maybe we shouldn’t have to use Voltron for every battle,” suggested Hunk. “Like, I love you guys, but I like bonding with just me and my Lion, you know? I could do without all the fighting, but a little one-on-one with Yellow isn't so bad.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lance said, sounding disappointed with the reply.

Keith tried out the idea in his mind and didn’t find it completely unreasonable. Would it be foolish to voice his opinion? Maybe. Did he have the urge to do it anyway? “It _would_ be faster,” he said tentatively.

The response was instantaneous.

“Yes, Keith! I knew I could count on you!" cheered Lance. He punctuated the call with a whoop of laughter as the Blue Lion swooped across to decimate a line of cruisers with an ice beam. Keith couldn't help but grin at his friend's enthusiasm and joined his fellow paladins in fighting the Galra as separate lions. It was only when the Galra's larger battleship careened towards them that Shiro ordered them to form Voltron. From there, the battle ended swiftly. It was clear that the Galra hadn't expected them in the Galfore system at all. After wiping out the space-bound vessels, Voltron dropped to the planet's surface and destroyed the signal tower that controlled the droids.

As they approached, Keith could spot large towers that no doubt made up a castle of some kind. Upon drawing closer to the structure, Keith could spot some lingering Galra sentries around the base of each tower. Shiro seemed to notice the same thing and instructed that they all head to the planet’s castle after landing their lions on the outskirts of the structure. Keith was quickly out on the field with his fellow paladins and rolled his eyes when he saw Lance blow a kiss at the Blue Lion upon their departure.

The interior of the castle was far emptier than the paladins anticipated. The huge white walls were bare as if there hadn't been anyone living there in some time. Keith headed the group with Shiro, his red bayard activated and prepared to dice any enemy.

“This is creepy,” said Hunk, his own bayard drawn and ready to fire, although Keith was half-sure Hunk was willing to shoot at the next thing that moved. “Is anyone else getting flashbacks to our ghost ship days?”

“It was technically only a single day, but yeah,” agreed Pidge. “I’m definitely feeling it too. What are our plans, Shiro?”

“We'll scope out what we can. We saw Galra activity congregating outside the castle," said Shiro as he led them all up to the wide blue staircase of the castle. "Although they're inside, there's no telling where the rest of the might be. We'll have to stay alert, and try to keep an eye out for any locals that might be able to tell us what is going on."

Pidge looked up from the screen displayed above her arm. “They should be around,” said Pidge. “When Hunk and I were doing our scans, we could definitely see that there was life on the planet. It’s insane that we can’t see any other that now.” The screen disintegrated as Pidge lowered her arm. “It’s as if they all disappeared.”

“Or maybe it’s more than that they’re here but we can’t see them. That’s possible,” said Hunk.

“Wouldn’t people you can’t see be hard to enslave?” said Lance. “I mean, if you were Galra, wouldn’t you want to see the people you want to control?”

“I mean, that’s a good point,” said Hunk. “Keith? Thoughts?”

Keith wrinkled his nose at the suggestion.

“Oh, no thoughts, Keith?” challenged Lance. Keith shot Hunk and Lance a glare, which they returned with a shrug and a smirk, respectively. “I think that we should be focused on liberating the planet. We don’t know where the people are, and we might never figure it out if we don’t focus on the problem at hand.”

“Right, of course,” said Lance, nodding his head as if he had agreed with Keith from the start. “Excellent point.”

Keith rolled his eyes again but found himself smiling at the playful tone in Lance’s voice. “Thanks.”

“You are _most_ welcome.”

“Boys,” warned Shiro, “we’re approaching what I can only imagine is the throne room. Be ready."

“They might be trying to do what they did with the Olkari,” suggested Pidge. “Maybe they have their king hostage as well.”

“That would be unfortunate,” Shiro hummed, “but we can’t rule it out. Stay on guard.”

“Got it,” they all responded, continuing to creep forward. Keith’s eyes were careful as they progressed down the hall to the supposed throne room.

“I’m surprised that there aren’t any guards here,” said Lance quietly. “It’s really suspicious.”

“It could be an ambush?” suggested Pidge as they passed a large portrait hanging on the wall. “Maybe they knew we’d come in and are trying to surprise attack.”

“Perhaps it is,” said another voice, this one new and high-pitched and definitely _not_ Pidge. Keith swivelled, blade already in motion, but stopped just shy of the speaker’s throat. His eyes met the scared amber ones of an alien whose hand clutched tightly at Pidge’s arm.

“Who are you?” asked Pidge, staring down at the alien just as worriedly as they were staring at Keith.

“I am Polaire,” they whimpered, “and you are all Paladins of Voltron.”

“You’ve heard of us,” said Keith cautiously. He felt a touch on his shoulder and removed his blade obediently. Pidge gently pulled the alien’s hand away.

“What happened here?” she asked. “What can you tell us?”

“My father told me that the Galra came ten deca-phoebs ago. They were not here as long as they were on other planets,” Polaire said, “but they took the life of the planet and tried to steal the Whistle Pond.”

“The what?” asked Lance.

“The Whistle Pond is the princess' greatest treasure,” explained Polaire, “and has helped guide her family in ruling over all of Catola for a long time.”

“Is that this planet’s name? Catola?”

Polaire nodded and Pidge put a hand to her helmet. “Princess, do you have any information on a planet named Catola?”

“I will check,” came Allura voice.

Keith brought his attention back on the smaller alien. “And you? What do you know about this pond thing? Why does the Galra want it?”

“The quintessence," said Polaire urgently, "is what keeps all things alive. We thought they would come for our quintessence, but the Princess' greatest treasure is the Whistle Pond, and they want that instead.” Polaire looked at each of the paladins with desperation in their eyes. “It is said that the waters are loyal only to the princess, and it is impossible to swim in. Should you come across it, you must not take off your helmets, for if you fall in then you will drown."

“So it’s dangerous?” asked Lance, brows furrowed with curiosity.

“Not at all,” said Polaire. “The princess only uses it to play music that draws all things together.”

“Do you know what this pond looks like, by chance? Just in case we have to avoid it,” put in Lance.

Polaire shook their head and tugged at Pidge’s arm. “No one but the Princess has seen the Whistle Pond, even if we all hear its music. And it is the princess you must save. She is the one in danger. If the Galra have holed themselves up in the throne room, then they will surely be using the Princess’ family to force her to reveal the pond.”

“We will do our best to ensure that she and her family and safe,” said Shiro clearly. Keith glanced over at their leader’s calm countenance and grinned. Leave it to Shiro to comfort a foreign native of the planet. “It’s very brave of you to tell us this. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry that I can’t help more,” said Polaire, eyes glazing over as if growing tearful. “I had always hoped that Voltron would save us, and now, here you are.”

“We’ll do our best,” affirmed Shiro. “You should find a safe place to hide while we work, okay? You were hiding really well before.”

“Us Catolians have a knack for fitting into small spaces and have good hearing. For us younglings, we can hear any approaching Galra and hide between pillars to avoid the Galra soldiers." Polaire flushed with nervous pride. "If it's helpful, we've seen a big energy source in the palace catacombs that might be of some interest to you."

“What kind of energy source?” asked Pidge.

“Any chance it’s big, metal, and very purple?” put in Lance.

Polaire nodded more shyly at Lance and inched a little closer to him. “Exactly like that.”

Keith glanced at his fellow paladin with a bemused expression. Lance smirked back at him, but there was something to it that didn't seem so pleasant. “At least they stick to their MO.”

“Thank you, Polaire,” said Shiro. “Do you remember exactly where the catacombs are?” They nodded again. “Perfect. I want Hunk, Pidge and Lance to go with you to shut down the power source. It’s likely controlling the rest of the droids in this area, and maybe even the rest of the planet. Keith and I will start heading towards the throne room to look for the princess.”

“Got it." The three paladins followed Polaire down a new hallway with their bayards drawn in case of an attack. Keith watched them go and caught Lance looking back at them with the strangest expression on his face. Keith raised an eyebrow back, and Lance frowned before disappearing around the corner. He was surprised that Lance hadn't put up a fight about not going to see the princess. Perhaps the run-in with the fortune teller had Lance thinking differently. Keith had always been sure that Lance was interested in women exclusively, what with his casanova demeanour and shameless flirting. Being selected as Lance's soulmate sounded about as far from Lance's preferred partner as possible.

Then again, who was Keith to know about Lance’s preferences? It wasn’t exactly something they talked about often, if at all. Keith wasn’t sure that was even a conversation he even wanted to have with Lance, who dealt exclusively in banter and denial when it came to Keith. On the other hand, Keith’s first conversation about his… preferences with Shiro had gone much better than he anticipated. Keith hadn’t been interested in denying what he thought he felt at the time. Lance hadn’t been averse to the idea at all when the fortune teller had mentioned it, but what that meant, Keith couldn’t tell.

With a breath and the subtle shifting of his bayard, Keith turned to face Shiro, banishing any thoughts of Lance from his head. “So, what about this princess?” asked Keith as Shiro finished listened in to something Allura was saying.

"Thank you, princess," murmured Shiro. "I'll tell the others."

"So?"

Shiro looked at Keith with a cry grin. "There's good news and bad news."

"Perfect." Keith's frown made Shiro chuckle. "Gimme the bad news first."

"Well, the guards of this planet have disappeared. Allura and Coran saw them dip out when we first arrived. They were headed for a planet nearby, so they're likely telling the neighbouring planets in this star system about us. We'll have to save the prince as soon as possible and try to return to the castle before they rally their forces and attack."

"Got it." The pair of them continued down the hall, checking each corner. The coast was suspiciously clear, but both Keith and Shiro knew not to let their guards down.

The throne room turned out to be the most obviously labelled room in the palace. Besides having the most ornate door, there was huge, floating orb that spun leisurely. It was also evidently the throne room because it was completely surrounded by robotic Galra soldiers. The droids were struggling intensely to get into the room, which seemed to be tightly sealed from the inside.

"What do you want to bet that the princess is in there?" asked Keith with a smirk.

Shiro's arm hummed with energy as he smiled back. "Let's go and find out."

* * *

"You know, for a place full of dead people, there are plenty of plants that are very… _alive_ ," said Lance, marvelling at the purple vines that curled around the thin pillars of the Catolian catacombs. There were small bubbles of light that bloomed from each vine, opening into wide daffodil-like flowers as Lance passed them. He glanced behind himself to see that the flowers they had already passed closing up and allowing the tunnels behind them to be swallowed in darkness again.

"We have always nurtured the plants here," Polaire was saying as they walked. "They feed on energy, be it heat, light, even matter, but they cannot go to their food sources. We care for the plants, bring them food, and, in return, they give us light in the darkness."

"Is the whole planet like this?" asked Hunk, He ducked down cautiously to avoid an overhanging bulb that had just bloomed and haloed him in the light. "It's very Balmera-esque."

"Yeah. You don't happen to have any rock people around, do you? Or maybe magic crystals?" Lance chimed in.

Polaire giggled. "We don't have any magic besides that of the princess' Whistle Pond. The music it plays is so enchanting that, if the princess desires, it can soothe anyone who hears it."

"That explains all the Galra tech around the city," said Pidge thoughtfully. "Having actual Galra soldiers could put them at risk of falling under the influence of the Pond's music. They must be using the droids to avoid being influenced."

"Not that it’s a bad thing, but besides singing water and motion-sensor flowers, I feel like this planet is actually low on the weird magic stuff," commented Lance. "I don't know about you guys, but singing water is exactly what I imagine when Polaire says 'Whistle Pond'."

"We don't know what to expect from this treasure of this princess," said Pidge, "but if it keeps the big bad Galra away, then I guess I can get on board with it maybe being singing water."

"It kind of sounds like those sirens you hear about in the old pirate books on Earth, only there's no siren to sing the song. It's just water," pointed out Hunk. "Also, I know you're both digging this atmosphere and the whole Whistle Pond thing, but would someone mind telling me if we're getting any closer to that Galra power source? The sooner we take that thing out, the sooner we can leave these creepy tunnels."

"It's just up ahead," said Polaire, crouching to crawl under a thick curtain of foliage.

Pidge followed after them with Lance and Hunk bringing up the rear.

"You would think," said Pidge, "that the energy source would be better protected."

"The Galra generals always patrolled here," said Polaire, their eyes practically glowing in the dark, "but ever since Voltron entered our planet's scope, they disappeared."

"That can't be good," said Hunk. "They're probably rallying their forces to get at that Pond before we can get to it."

"I don't doubt it," agreed Pidge.

Lance heard the power source before he saw it, but it looked more warped that he thought that it would. The huge glowing metal contraption had twisted and tilted dangerously, the plant vines curling around the edges of the power source. The power source itself grumbled and spluttered as it continued to radiate whatever Galran energy was controlling the droids.

"What happened to it?" asked Lance.

"It looks to be running out of power," said Pidge curiously, her glasses turning purple as they drew closer to it.

"It does seem to be pretty weak," said Hunk. "Destroying it should be a piece of cake, right?"

"Should be," said Pidge. The machine spluttered loudly in agreement.

"Alright then," Lance raised his bayard, "where do I shoot?"

"We should stand back before doing any shooting," warned Pidge. "The Galran power source is already unstable from the looks of it. We'll just need a small nick before the whole thing blows."

"Sounds dangerous," said Hunk. He wrung his hands nervously. "Does it have to explode? Why can't there be a nice 'OFF' button or something?"

"No dice, buddy. I don't think we'll be able to swing that." Lance looked down at Pidge. "How far away do we have to be to not get affected by the blast?"

"A ways back," said Pidge, her frown visible through her helmet. She pulled them away from the power source, back around the layer of hanging vines and towards the entrance from where they came. "Hopefully the plants will be able to survive it, or at least grow back."

Lance lowered his bayard fractionally, brows furrowed in thought. "Couldn't the plants just eat the explosion? Like, it's all energy in the end, and that's what they eat, right? Couldn't they just, I don't know, absorb it?"

Hunk and Pidge blinked at one another in awe.

"How," began Hunk, "did I not think of that at all?"

"Lance, that's a good theory," said Pidge, pausing in her steps, "and I mean an actual _good_ , plausible theory."

"Thanks, guys," said Lance proudly before coming to a stop right next to Pidge, "but are we far enough back just in case old Lancey Lance's theory is wrong?"

"It’s hard to tell how much power is going to explode out of that thing, but considering our distance and the fact that the machine already looks weakened? Yeah, we should be good back here," said Pidge. "These pillars look pretty stable too so they should be able to save us from being buried due to the blast itself."

"And if they don't?" asked Hunk. "I don't want to be too toasty, you know? I'm already overheating because I'm so nervous."

"Don't worry about it," assured Pidge. "As long as Lance hits that small junction at the top of the energy source, we'll have exactly 30 seconds to book it." She turned to Polaire. "Can you run quickly?"

"I can be fast, Green Paladin," assured Polaire. "I will run from as many explosions as need be if  we can indeed save my planet."

"And there's no one left here, right?" asked Hunk. "All the kids who usually hide here are gone now?"

 Polaire frowned and held up a hand. "One moment." Their pointed ears perked up, straining for sound for a few moments before they looked up the paladins with a grin. "They have left. They know that the catacombs are off limits now that you're here."

"That's amazing. Nice work," said Lance, patting Polaire's shoulder and earning himself a blush.

"Thank you, Blue Paladin. Catolian hearing is one of the best on this side of the system, or so I have always been told."

Lance took aim, his bayard shifting and changing in his hands so that his regular blaster was carefully level with his shoulder. "I just got to get the upper bit? I can't exactly see through the vines."

"You have good intuition," said Pidge. "I know you can hit it."

"Aw, thanks Pidge." He took a steadying breath.

"Ready?" asked Pidge, more quietly this time.

Lance took one more breath and fired.

* * *

Keith didn't expect to find the princess' pond so unguarded. He and Shiro had made short work of the Galra droids outside of the throne room, and had slipped into the grandiose room expecting… well, not expecting the body of a woman floating on the surface of the water. The throne room was large, with huge pillars, and walls covered in thin, purple vines. There was a huge chair by the wall parallel to the entrance, and in the middle of the room sat a perfectly circular pond. When Keith had noticed there was someone floating on the water’s surface, he'd averted his eyes, embarrassed, while Shiro chose to scan the room for any other Galra soldiers.

"It looks like there's nobody else in here. No Galra or Catolian soldiers," said Shiro slowly.

Keith risked a look at the alien, the princess, who looked very much like Polaire in their long white hair, only this woman had light pink skin instead of the light purple of Polaire's. She was wearing a thin yellow robe, her chest rising slowly before dropping down as her breath hitched. It was then that Keith realized that she hadn't reacted to their entrance at all.

"Is she asleep?" asked Keith, inching closer to the pool. The water matched the same glowing orb that they saw outside the throne room, but there was nothing else fantastical about it. His ears could barely pick up the sound of her breathing, but there was something else in the air, a sound he couldn't quite place.

"We might need to evacuate her. Who knows when the Galra may strike again," said Shiro. "Although, when it comes to how we got in here, I'm completely at a loss. It was too easy. The droids struggled so much, but we entered without a problem."

Keith stood at the edge of the pond, his bayard retracted. The alien looked like she was in pain, and though she frowned, shifting slighting in the throes of what Keith assumed was a nightmare, the water underneath her remained still.

"Do you really think this is the Whistle Pond?" asked Keith. "It doesn't look like some magical treasure. Although…" Keith paused, eyes entranced by the look of something in the pool of water. It glittered like a jewel sitting at the bottom of the pond. Keith learned over the water's edge, trying to get a better look at it. "That's weird."

"Keith?" called Shiro from the other side of the room. Keith frowned at the water, the jewel at the bottom a brilliant red. How had he missed it? The colour of it was so vibrant, he should have been able to see it immediately. Keith tried to look closer, the sound he'd been hearing becoming a breathy hum. It was kind of melodic, something that beat in his chest and filled his head thickly.

"Keith?"

Did Shiro not realize that the gem was at the base of the pool? Keith would have to fetch it out and show him. The humming got louder the closer he got to the pond's surface. It rippled when his hair fell forward. All he had to do was-

A huge quake rippled through the castle, shaking everything it touched. Keith pulled away from the water, the soothing hum completely silenced. The thin green windows of the throne room shattered, spreading glassy shards around the throne room. Shiro was at his side in an instant, pulling Keith away from the water with a worried expression.

Keith thought he could hear some fearful screams just outside the window, but could barely consider them over the rushing blood to his head. He felt like he had just been woken harshly from a peaceful dream, and as he regained his bearings, he felt the warmth of his leader next to him.

"Shiro?"

"Keith, are you okay?" asked Shiro worriedly.

"What _was_ that?" Keith said instead, knowing that the quake wasn't was Shiro had been asking about.

"Some kind of explosion." Shiro turned away a bit and put a hand to his helmet. "Pidge, where are you?" He paused with a frown fixed on his lips. "There must be a frequency issue," he said out loud to Keith, handing him the red helmet that Keith couldn't remember taking off. "You doing okay?"

"I'll be fine," promised Keith. Shiro fixed him with a look, a warning to be careful, as Keith put on his own helmet.

"Pidge," Shiro tried again, "respond."

"-plosion wasn't bad. It just- up. The flowers –"

Shiro's serious expression grew more worried. "You're cutting out. Meet us in the throne room. Throne room."

"Throne- it. Lance shot- big – kind of hurt."

"Hurt?" Keith felt sickness well up in his gut. He was angry at his inability to help his friends, frustrated at the idea that Lance was potentially injured. They were who knows where, and he was in the throne room trying to figure out why he'd been completely ready to swim in some alien space water.

"Come back as quick as you can," said Shiro, although it was clear that he wasn't expecting an answer. He muted the comms and turned to face Keith completely.

Keith felt tempted to buckle under the weight of Shiro's stare. He felt like he was back at the Garrison, having to confess that he had punched out some kid to Shiro, having to explain his actions for something he already knew Shiro would be disappointed in. "What?"

"What happened back there?" asked Shiro. "I've never seen you completely checked out on a mission like that before. You looked like you were about to jump in."

"I don't know. I just had the urge to go down there. I swear, there was something at the bottom of the pond."

"Something at the bottom, huh?" He seemed to contemplate that before nodding to himself. "We'll figure this out when we're all back together. You still seem a little out of it."

Keith nodded slowly, still trying to clear his head of the dreamlike state he had been in. "Do you think Lance…"

"I think that they're all fine," said Shiro confidently. "I sent my smartest soldiers with Polaire, after all. They can take of themselves."

"Smartest soldiers, and Lance," added Keith playfully.

"And Lance," Shiro agreed with a chuckle.

They stood together in silence for a bit before Keith let out an outraged sound. "Hey, wait a minute-"

Shiro laughed a little more this time. "What?"

"I'm smart too,” he grumbled.

"I didn't say you weren't, Keith," said Shiro warmly, but the tension between had dissipated effectively, just as Shiro had no doubt intended.

Keith let his eyes drift back to the alien on the water, his curiosity prickling. "That woman," said Keith suddenly, "do you think she'll be okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier, when I was by the pond, it looked like she was in pain."

"Did she?" Keith met Shiro's perplexed expression. "She seemed fine to mean. She didn't even wake up after that earthquake."

"That's weird, right?"

Keith took a step to investigate, but Shiro immediately pulled him back. "Oh no, we're not doing that."

"But-"

"Keith, the rest of the team should be here before we investigate further. Polaire may know more about the pond to help figure out what's happening right now. Don’t be so hasty."

Keith felt like his scowl was practically fixed to his face. Lance had said as much multiple times they were in space, but it had never felt truer than at this moment. "Fine," he said, sounding petulant to his own ears.

"Good," Shiro spoke to Allura over the comms who, as luck would have it, saw a huge surge of energy streak up and out of the planet, shooting down the escaped Galra craft. Shiro relayed the information to Keith who just nodded, impressed.

"Lucky shot," said Keith appraisingly.

"I would call it a coincidence," said Shiro, "but Allura thinks there was a little more to it."

"More?"

"I mean, potentially more." He glanced over at the pool of water behind them. "If this is the princess we're looking for, then we'll have to be extra careful. This place should be the most fortified room on the planet, but it was easy to get into."

"It was definitely suspicious. Very trap-like."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "I see that _someone_ has been spending too much time with Lance and Hunk."

"Impossible," said Keith, though he couldn’t help the rush of pride he felt at Shiro acknowledging what he could only hope was a friendship between Keith and the other paladins.

"It's not a bad thing, and I don't think I say this enough to any of you, but I am proud of you," said Shiro, seeming to know what Keith needed to hear before Keith did. "You always found making friends difficult when you were at the Garrison. I'm glad you're really bonding with the other paladins."

Keith thought back to their time at the alien market and, not for the first time, considered telling Shiro everything that had transpired. Their friends hadn't been suspicious when they said that the Kalafin's presumed location was simply hearsay, the result of some rumours they had managed to score. It was embarrassing to think about telling the rest of the team something that, despite Keith's vehement denial of its validity, an alien mystic had foretold the Kalafin's location in the same breath that she had ascertained Lance and Keith's destined future together.

Just considering the possibility of being in love with Lance, of Lance being in love with _him_ , felt so dangerously close to a long lost hope from Arus that Keith shut down every opportunity to discuss it. It seemed like such a silly impossibility that Keith didn't want to give it any thought, didn't want to entertain it.

Shiro wouldn't laugh at him for the confession either, not kind, dedicated Shiro. He'd probably reassure Keith that it wasn't real, that the fortune teller's prophecy wasn't helpful, but that they had done their best to get information anyway, that he and Lance had done what they could. He'd grip Keith's shoulder and assure him that it was all a misunderstanding.

Or maybe that was just what Keith foolishly imagined because the real Shiro was an optimist through and through. The real Shiro would support Keith, would probably encourage him to be honest with his feelings instead of shut them down. He'd make Keith _feel_. He could just imagine Shiro's voice telling him in that same smooth tone he always used, saying "Keith, why does this scare you? If you and Lance really are meant to be together, then the two of you can work it out. You don't have to hide it from us." The real Shiro always knew what to say to soothe Keith, to give him courage again.

Keith swallowed, the urge to tell Shiro stronger than ever, but he kept himself in check. He and Lance had agreed not to talk about it. They'd made a promise to not tell anyone about the circumstances of their intel. Even if Keith truly wanted to tell Shiro, there was a part of him, that same, traitorously hopeful part, which wanted to keep this between him and Lance. It was a quiet secret between them, and to tell someone would be to betray Lance's trust. It felt _wrong_ to tell Shiro, but it felt _wrong_ not to tell him.

Keith didn't know how he was supposed to feel about that.

The comms crackled to life again, and Keith heard his friends, their voices melting the tension in his shoulders with Hunk's gentle voice, Pidge's pointed quips, and Lance.

Just. _Lance_.

He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"I mean, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work," Lance was saying. "Let's just meet them there."

"That's assuming that the throne room is still standing, though," said Hunk. "Who knows what kind of structural integrity this place has?"

"It has to be fine," said Pidge. "We could hear Shiro, or at least bits and pieces of Shiro. We know they're alive."

"I mean, we _don't_ know if Keith's alive, or if he's even with Shiro," said Lance, sounding perfectly unharmed and more worried than anything. "I mean, I guess we kinda do because it's not like Red is busting in here. Unless she has and we don't know it."

"She hasn't done anything," said Keith finally, smiling a little at their individual exclamations of surprise.

"Oh?" said Pidge, her voice light and playful. "I think we just heard a full sentence there, boys."

"Is everyone okay?" asked Shiro. He looked just as relieved as Keith felt.

"Everyone is fine. Lance just shot the power core and casually triggered an explosion."

"All in a day's work," said Lance, and Keith rolled his eyes.

"We're all good, right, Polaire?" asked Hunk.

"Yes." Polaire's voice drifted through the comms. "And the princess? Did you find her?"

"We think so, yes," said Shiro. Keith glanced over at the alien resting on the water again. "She's, um, asleep."

"Asleep?" Pidge said. "What kind of princess sleeps through an earthquake?"

"This kind, apparently." He rolled his shoulders, happy to find the tension dissipating the longer they all spoke together. "Are you almost here? There's a bit of a puzzle we've got to solve before we check on the natives of this planets."

"Oh, a puzzle?" said Hunk. "Puzzles sound nice and not creepy at all."

"Puzzles sound confusing and complicated, actually," said Lance, "but what did you find?"

"There's water here that the princess is sleeping on?" Shiro looked at Keith, who just shrugged. It wasn't like Keith could explain it better. "And after we spent some time close to it, Keith seemed ready to jump into the water. Without his helmet."

"Keith, buddy," said Lance with a weak laugh, "if you wanted to go for a dip, you could always join me in the wacky Altean pool."

He was trying to lighten the mood, trying to keep the atmosphere from growing too thick with the knowledge that Keith seemed ready to drown in this precious treasure of the princess. Keith appreciated it.

"It was weird. One moment I was checking to see if the princess was okay," said Keith, "and the next, I felt this _urge_ to just get into the water. I thought I saw something in the pool."

"Did you actually feel weird besides the urge to get in?" asked Pidge.

"I was actually really at ease?" Keith felt Shiro's eyes on him like a brand. "And there was this… humming. It was-" he cut off, picking up some other sound in his peripheral. The other line remained quiet with him for a moment. He could hear a low, melodic line drifting through the throne room, similar to what it had been before the quake. "It's back now, actually. It's got to be coming from somewhere." Keith eyed the area around him, looking for the source.

"Keith," said Lance suddenly, "don't move."

"But-"

Keith could hear some shuffling over the comms. "Whoa, Lance," yelped Pidge, "why are we _running_?"

"Oh man, here we go," huffed Hunk. "He is seriously gunning it. This is, like, his track and field run."

"Lance, what are you talking about?" said Keith, his attention solely focused on why his fellow paladin seemed so insistent.

"Keith, I am so damn serious about this," shouted Lance. "You need to stay where you are, away from the water. And for the love of god, don't take off your helmet again."

"That's not-" he began to protest before Lance cut him off.

"Actually, yeah. That's exactly what you were going to do." Keith's frown deepened, unsure how he felt about Lance seeming to know that he'd been considering approaching the pond again? "You just need to stay put."

"Lance, I don't know what you're talking about, but if I want to check it out, then I will. Keith huffed. "It's not a big deal. I'm not going to jump in or anything. I'll be careful."

"You're not gonna have much of a choice," said Lance. "Just don't. Shiro, watch him." Lance's breath was coming out in hard puffs, and Keith realized that Hunk hadn't been kidding. Lance was really running towards the throne room.

"Lance, you can't just tell me what to do," said Keith, feeling irritable. He wanted to check the water out. He was just _looking_.

"Is your self-control that bad?" jeered Lance suddenly. "Can't even sit still for a minute?"

"You're being childish," said Keith, his desire to fight back, to compete, muffled by his annoyance. "I'm hanging up."

"Wait, Keith!"

Keith muted Lance's protest and sighed. The heavy feeling returned to his head like a wave, and Keith took off his helmet hoping to relieve it. The humming in the air was still there, but just barely.

"Keith, what is going on?" Shiro said, drawing Keith's attention briefly.

"Just Lance being Lance," grumbled Keith, as he put his helmet down on the polished throne room floor. "I mean, seriously, what does it matter if I wanted to head back to the water?"

Shiro looked at him curiously. "Why would you want to head back? I thought we agreed to wait."

"I mean, I was just thinking about it. I am feeling pretty hot," said Keith, gazing at the water and admiring its clarity, "but I wasn't going to-"

"Keith," Keith looked back at Shiro, whose face had grown deadly serious. "Look where you're standing."

He glanced down a little and realized that he had already taken a few steps towards the pond. When had he done that? Keith looked back at Shiro whose brows were knitted. When Keith tried for another step, Shiro's hand shot out and closed on his arm. "Don't," warned Shiro. Without a second thought, Keith ripped himself out of Shiro's grip and made a run for the water. His head felt heavier than it had all day, and his thoughts swirled in an emotional frenzy. Why were they all so against him going in? It wouldn't hurt him. If anything, it would soothe the burning heat at the center of his chest. Maybe it would clear his head too.

"He's running," Keith could hear Shiro say, his friend sounding even farther than he thought. Keith risked a glance behind him to see that Shiro was actually fast approaching.

"Keith, stop," called Shiro urgently, but Keith continued to barrel forward. He had to get to the water. He was almost there.

"Keith, _stop_ ," another voice said. The pressure in Keith's mind lifted immediately, the burn cooling to a low, tolerable simmer. The sharp change left Keith reeling, and he paused, ceasing his running and meeting Lance's eyes at the threshold of the throne room.

When had Lance arrived?

"Lance?"

"Don't 'Lance' me." Lance stormed over, unlatching his helmet and giving Keith an angry once over. Lance looked absolutely exhausted, brown hair sticking to his face with sweat, but his eyes still blazed with blue intensity. "Where is _your_ helmet? You were explicitly instructed not to take it off."

"I-" Keith raised a hand to his face because, yup, his helmet was completely off. He barely remembered doing that. Again. Why was this happening? "Oh."

"Oh? That's all you gotta say?" Lance forced his helmet over Keith's head, and all at once, the humming became muted. Everything became muted. Lance was saying something to Shiro, who simply nodded and put his hands on Keith's arms again, this time locking them in place.

"There he is. Thank god." Keith watched as Hunk and Pidge stumbled in, Polaire nestled safely on Hunk's back. "Shiro, do you have him?"

"He's good," said Shiro, his voice crystal clear in Keith's helmet, just like Hunk's had been.

"Who is good? I can barely move, and why can't I hear anything except you guys?" grumbled Keith.

"That's the point, dude," said Hunk, walking up to them and eyeing the pond nervously. "This water is kind of trying to kill you."

"But _why_?" said Keith. His eyes tracked Lance heading across the room and grabbing Keith's helmet from where it had fallen. He turned the helmet over in his hand, running a thumb over the glassy face shield before putting it over his head. "It didn't feel malicious."

"Well, it isn't supposed to feel malicious," said Pidge flatly. "How else is it going to convince you to drown yourself?"

" _What_?" Keith hissed, eyes snapped back to Pidge and Hunk as they approached him.

"Yeah, Lance figured it out," said Hunk, crouching down so Polaire could clamber down from his back. "Basically the Whistle Pond plays music to calm you down, right? Well, that same music is designed to control you if the monarch is ever in danger, so much so that it does it automatically. It probably saw you guys as a threat and was trying to get rid of you, like the Galra soldiers.

"When you mentioned hearing a humming, Lance had a feeling the pond was trying to relax you so it could basically kill you and he-" Hunk paused strangely before continuing, "and, I mean, all of us were really worried about you, so we rushed back."

"It's a good thing too," said Lance, the sound of his voice resonating clearly in Keith's helmet, "'cause you were about to do a nose dive into that water."

"The real question is how Keith stopped being influenced," said Pidge, eyes curious. "What snapped you out of it?"

"I'm not really sure," said Keith slowly. "Whenever you guys were talking, I could focus a little more, so maybe it was that? What I want to know was why I was affected."

"Maybe it was your Galra genes," said Hunk. "It's possible that you were the most affected because it thought you were Galra and hostile. Besides, from what we know, the Galra have a heightened sense of hearing. Maybe you were picking up sounds that we couldn't even hear."

"Maybe… You didn't feel that urge, did you, Shiro?"

They all looked at their leader expectantly, and Shiro shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you guys. I could definitely hear something, but it didn't really draw my attention."

"That's weird," said Pidge, "and inconsistent with all of our theories. But Lance," Lance perked up at being addressed, "you're still reigning supreme on your 'the water wants to kill Keith' theory, so kudos."

Lance beamed at her happily as Shiro spoke up.

"And the rest of you? Why weren't any of you affected?" asked Shiro. "Could you just not hear it?"

"Nah. Pidge and I filtered our comms so that only our direct voices are transmitted to each other. We actually can't hear anything happening outside of our helmets, which is kind of a huge balancing issued, but Polaire has been guiding us through a walkie-talkie we made on the fly that has our helmet's special frequency. It's pretty great."

"Very clever. Nice work, team," praised Shiro. "Now, to help the princess."

They all turned towards the pond and tensed, surprised at the second figure cradling the princess in her arms. Where the princess' skin was a rich pink, this new alien's skin was mostly a pale white, their gown a mix of yellows and pinks as well. Something was said, their purple lips moving rapidly but Keith heard nothing but the soft breathing of his teammates. Polaire clambered off Hunk's back, limbs trembling as they bowed to the new arrival. The paladins shared a look of confusion and carefully followed Polaire's lead.

As he bowed, Keith could spot a crown sitting on the new figure's head, and he swallowed hard to himself. Meeting monarchy on new planets was always a bit of a hit or miss. Keith had always found himself a little wary of them, as the smallest gesture could make or break Allura's fledgling alliances which would be needed to take down the Galra once and for all.

"Paladins," came Polaire's voice, mouth pressed a bit too close to the makeshift walkie-talkie. "You are free to remove your helmets. This is the Princess of Catolia: Princess Iva of Sutol.

Keith took his helmet off carefully, purposefully, while his friends did the same, and the princess smiled delicately.

"I apologize, paladins," she said, her voice light and airy, "and I thank you for coming to our rescue."

"You're the princess?" said Lance, sounded a bit dumbfounded. Keith looked over, expecting him to be gearing up for a pick-up line, but found only confusion on Lance's face.

"Yes," she said, glancing down at the fair-skinned alien in her arms. "I did not recognize you as the paladins of Voltron, and neither did the Whistle Pond, which set to immediately trying to enchant you when you got close by it."

"Pardon me," said Pidge, "but if you're the princess, then who was sleeping on the water this whole time?"

Princess Iva's expression softened. "This is Lilalim," she said, hands tightening around the pale white shoulders of her companion. "She is my fiancée. The Galra have known about our betrothal from the moment it happened, and when I refused to co-operate on their recent excavation attempt on my planet, they poisoned Lilalim." She did something that Keith could only assume was swallowing. "They forced me to choose whether to enslave my people or gain the cure."

"You did what you had to do," said Shiro, "but it's going to be okay."

She smiled weakly at them. "I was hiding with my family when you came. We had already planned a revolution of our own, but then you appeared, and the droids ceased working. By all accounts, you have freed us from Zarkon's tyranny."

"Your fiancée is poisoned though. Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Lance.

"A healing pod!" said Pidge excitedly. "That might be able to help."

"I thank you for your generosity, but I would rather keep her here." Princess Iva looked back at her fiancée. "The Whistle Pond has slowly been removing the poison, and its power reflects that of the planet. I am under the suspicion that the same poison from Lilalim has poisoned the Pond as well, its waters tainted by Galra energy that makes it more irritable. I've done my best to soothe it but purifying it will likely take a long time."

"Princess Allura may be able to help with that," said Shiro. "She has a better grasp of quintessence than any of us."

"Of course," said Princess Iva. "It would be an honour to meet with her. You have already saved my planet. Anything more would make me the happiest creature. I feel like I have so many questions."

"So do we," said Shiro, "but we can discuss them when Allura is present."

The princess smiled, nodded, and relaxed her shoulders. "Then welcome to my planet, paladins," she said, eyeing each of them with purpose. "I hope you enjoy your stay."

* * *

 

Once Allura had landed the castleship on Catolian soil, she and Coran were whisked into a diplomacy meeting with Princess Iva and her advisor. It left the other paladins with time to explore the planet, meet the locals, and relax away from the battle. Despite the insistence that they should be relaxing, Shiro had ensured that the locals had enough support in rebuilding their houses or clearing away lingering Galra tech in some of the towns. Each town reminded Lance of a small palace, and the houses seemed connected to one another with long green roofs. The quake that had followed the explosion of energy had been so focused and channelled that there hadn't been any dramatic repairs that needed to be made in the City. The mass of depowered Galra droids, on the other hand, had to be collected and destroyed, and the paladins spent most of their energy doing that.

Lance, Hunk and Pidge had been stationed in an area away from the others, so he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Keith about what had happened by the Whistle Pond. Lance's pure unadulterated fear of that something would happen to his teammates was at an all-time high, even though Allura had assured them that she had dispelled the poison from the Pond.

"It was nearly uncontrollable," she had said when she debriefed them that day at whatever the Catolian equivalent of breakfast was. "The Pond's own consciousness took on Princess Iva's desire to protect Princess Lilalim and took it quite to the extreme. It's been soothed now though, and I've been able to help draw what's left of the poison with an extra nudge of quintessence."

"So she'll be okay?" Lance had asked.

"She will live." Allura's smile had seemed filled with genuine relief. "It will take time for strength to return to her, but she will heal. The Whistle Pond is merely keeping her safe now."

Now that Lance thought about it, besides mealtimes, he hadn't seen Keith the entire day. Even when Lance was sure he caught glimpses of him, he seemed to disappear as soon as he appeared in the first place. Lance tried his best to disregard the niggling feeling that Keith was avoiding him for some reason or another, and it mostly worked. Pidge and Hunk kept him busy running errands and playing with Polaire. Keith had never actively avoided him before, but Lance was careful to convince himself that he had more important things to worry about.

Shiro and Allura were discussing the next course of action with the Catolian princess, and as the evening came to a close, Lance knew that they would be moving out when the second sun rose again. They still hadn't found the Kalafin, and their meeting with the Cortonians was fast approaching. Lance hoped they'd be able to find the instrument as soon as possible and then move on. The longer they stayed here, the more of this system remained unchecked.

It was on this night that Lance found himself passing the throne room, a room he had only ever been in once, and he was filled with the urge to look inside. Lance hesitated outside the door for a little, shifting his weight nervously before screwing up his courage and peeking inside. Lilalim still slept on the glassy pond before the throne, and the moonlight glowed vibrantly, casting the room in a rich purple. Lance was half afraid that his instinctual urge to peek was actually due to the Whistle Pond. Now, though, glancing in and wandering past the doors, he was surprised to find Keith there; Keith, also known as the last person Lance was expecting to be in the throne room, his face twisted into a look of absolute frustration.

"Again," he said gruffly.

"Of course, Red Paladin," said Princess Iva from her seat on the floor by the pond. She closed her eyes, and not a moment sooner, Keith began walking toward the Whistle Pond. His steps, initially hesitant, grew quickly more decided.

Lance watched Keith until he broke into a sprint towards the pond. The princess' eyes were still closed, and Lance felt worry take root in his soul again. Why was Keith here? Was he _trying_ to get the princess to siren him into the water? What was Keith even thinking just _running_ towards the water like that, he-

Lance called Keith’s name so unexpectedly that he almost thought someone else had called Keith’s name. But it had been his own voice, and as soon as the name left his lips, Keith jerked to a stop, his head whipping to the door with wide eyes.

"Lance?" Keith gaped at him. "What are you doing here?"

Lance lowered the hand he didn’t even realize he’d had out and held it to his chest. His body was just all for betraying how he felt today. "What am _I_ doing here? What about _you_?"

"I was training."

"Training for what?"

"I asked you first," said Keith stubbornly. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just taking a walk," defended Lance. "Princess Iva did say we were allowed to explore as we please." Lance looked up at the princess for support, and she giggled softly to herself as she rose to her feet, her pink gown awash with moonlight.

"Of course, Blue Paladin. You all have free reign to explore as you see fit. It is just one of the symbols of trust and closeness that we value here on Catolia."

"So… what are you guys up to?" asked Lance.

"It is just as the Red Paladin said: we were training in the hopes of solving a peculiar mystery," she gave them both a smile, "but I am almost sure that I've just solved it."

"You have?" asked Keith eagerly.

"If it is as I see it, yes. And quite spectacularly too." She turned towards the Whistle Pond and gazed into its waters. Keith followed her example wordless, walking to her side before glancing back at Lance.

"You coming?"

Lance's heart leapt in his chest, and he joined them by the water. "What was the big mystery?"

He could see his reflection in the water and watched as Princess Iva's reflection smiled fondly at her.

"The Whistle Pond, for many quintents, protected the royal Sutol family and ensured harmony. Our responsibility was not to misuse the persuasive power of the Whistle Pond. Over time, the Whistle Pond grew stronger, almost sentient." Her eyes met his across the water. "You both should know that the music is enchanted and can persuade the listener into obeying the one that controls the Pond. In this case, me." She smiled sadly at her fiancée's unconscious body. "When this happened to my Lily, I left the Pond with one order: to protect her from the Galra. The Pond recognized me as Master and set out to fulfill my wish. The water and I have the same kind of love for Lilalim. But when you, Red Paladin, and the Black Paladin entered the throne room, the Pond was unsure if you were friend or foe. Unsure that you were not Galra aligned, the Pond set to lull you when you got too close to Lily and was prepared to do whatever it needed to protect her."

"And then the earthquake," said Lance. "It disrupted the song, right?"

"It did. The Whistle Pond is connected to all living things on the planet and felt the destruction of the Galran power core from the flowers. Its focus shifted from protected Lily to destroying the fleeing Galra ship."

"How does that work with me, then?"

The princess looked up properly, Lance and Keith doing the same, and she caught their eyes. "There are many different songs the Pond can play. The first one you heard was aimed to enchant you, particularly the Galra within. It was designed to lure Galra closer to the water's edge, but, as I understand it, you are not full Galra, so there was still some resistance in you. Without the quake and with the right distraction, you may have been able to pull away from the song.

"The second song, however, is markedly different. It was aimed specifically at you after it failed to ensnare you as a Galra. Instead, the song played is what we call _vaati_ , or the soul song. It is the most powerful song the Pond can play, and it is nearly unbreakable."

"But I broke it," said Keith. "I stopped before getting into the water."

"This is true," said Princess Iva, "and not at the same time. It is difficult to describe."

"Take as much time as you need," said Lance. "We really want to know."

She nodded slowly at the encouragement. "Very well. As I said, the _vaati_ calls at the soul and is almost impossible to stop. I felt it singing to you, and I tried to stop it, but the Pond desired to protect Lilalim. I ran here knowing that I have stronger control the closer I am.” She smiled at them both. “However, by the time I was in range, you had already been stopped by your companions."

"So they distracted me from it?" posited Keith, but the princess shook her head.

"More than that," said the princess sweetly. "I believe that the call was interrupted and superseded by another call: the call of the Blue Paladin."

" _I_ snapped Keith out of the soul song?" Lance gaped, feeling foolish

Keith met Lance’s eyes for a moment before turning away again. It almost felt like he should have already known that it was his doing that had freed Keith. And in a way, he did know it. They both did. The fortune teller back on Drax Five had told them as much.

"Your voice broke the song of the Whistle Pond. Just hearing you speak must have muted the music for the Red Paladin, and he was no longer being controlled. I've only ever seen such a power exhibited once before. It's absolutely stunning to watch." Her smile fell a little. "I apologize, Red Paladin, as it seems that your training is in vain. This is not something you yourself can gain immunity from. It is the Blue Paladin's call, the call of your soul's partner, which stops the song."

"I see." Keith's tone said it all. He was annoyed, and there was a particular type of anger there that Lance had rarely heard. Lance felt something in him twist at that. Man, Keith really didn't like the idea of being destined to one another. Neither did Lance, but still.

Not like Lance was expecting anything different, though.

"Is there any chance," Lance began, swallowing through the tightness of his throat, "that you might be mistaken?"

Lance felt Keith's eyes on him and refused to look back. Why would he? He was just saying what Keith had no doubt been thinking. I mean, the idea that they were soulmates was crazy. Besides, who said Keith was the only one who could be upset about being called soulmates? Lance wouldn’t have been a bad soulmate. He was great!

"You do not think you are soul partners?" she asked, genuinely confused by the question.

"I just-" Lance ran a rough hand through his hair. "We just want to know if there is another explanation for what happened?"

Princess Iva stared hard at Lance as if she could discern the reason behind his question just by looking at him. He felt uncomfortable under her eyes, which practically glowed now that night had fallen on her city. She switched her gaze to Keith and examined him as well before sighing. "The timing," she said. "It is possible that I was in range sooner than I thought and managed to stop the song."

"That's plausible," Lance said slowly, "right, Keith?"

"Yeah. Sounds a lot more likely."

Princess Iva's cheeks turned as pink as Princess Lilalim's skin. "I'm sorry if I sounded presumptuous."

"Not to worry," laughed Lance awkwardly. He shared a look with Keith and found that his companion's expression was more flat than usual. "Keith and I aren't really… like that, with each other."

"We don't think it's possible, is what we mean," said Keith brusquely. Lance felt his heart squeeze again and did his best to push it away. "Thank you for clearing it up, though."

She nodded slowly, her brows furrowed as she looked them, seeing something between them that didn’t exist. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Maybe?" said Lance, trying to switch gears. "Do you know anything about an instrument called Kalafin?"

"Kalafin?" Princess Iva's eyes widened at that. "You're looking for Kalafin?"

"For a peace treaty with another planet, yeah," said Keith. "You wouldn't happen to know where we could find it, would you, Princess?"

"Kalafin," she said again, testing out the word curiously. "It is something I know very little about. As for its location…" she suddenly lit up, her mouth growing wide with a smile. "Oh! I think I know what to do!"

"Princess, you don't have to-" said Lance, but Princess Iva was already gathering up the pointed pink layers of her gown and hurrying away.

"Not to worry. There is something that I think could be beneficial, especially since you all will be off-world at first light. I know someone who knows a fair bit about the Kalafin, and they will certainly be able to shed some light on questions about soul partners too. Oh, it is the perfect solution to both your problems." She moved quickly to the door. "I must speak with your Princess Allura. Good night, Paladins."

She disappeared behind the door, and Lance was left with a growing sense of dread, one that was echoed in Keith's expression.

"Guess that's two for two in people who think we're meant for each other," said Lance lightly, "and only a day apart too."

"There was a better explanation for it this time," said Keith. "One that was actually believable."

"Ouch, Keith," said Lance, feeling his words more acutely than he let on. "Why must you deny our destined romance?"

"It was a coincidence." Keith sounded firm and convinced of this. "Just a coincidence."

Lance shoved his hands into his pockets. “I honestly thought she would test her theory and try to play the whole soul song thing.”

“You thought she'd put it to the test?”

“I mean, yeah? Wouldn't you want to test it out just to see if it was true?"

Keith gave him a very particular look, one that Lance could not even hope to interpret. "No," he said finally, "would you?"

"I guess not," said Lance, pulling his eyes away from Keith and staring at his reflection in the water. After all, what would he do if they confirmed that he and Keith really were soulmates, destined to be with one another? What would their friends say? What would they even _do_? No matter how much Lance considered, he knew that in this reality, Keith would never really look in his direction. Besides, he had his own life to live. Just because someone said Keith would be the one for him, didn't mean that nobody else was.

Keith had to be right. It had to be a coincidence. Lance would forget about this instance, tuck it away in the back of his mind with other questionable moments, and move on.

Starting now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is MUCH longer than I anticipated and does not have nearly enough fluff! I've gotta amp that up later. I got too into the plot and kind of forgot to write in some softer moments between them. But I'm building up to it! Can't have them believing in the fortune right away!


	3. A Dance? Why, The Honour Is All Mine!

"It has come to my attention," said Coran when they were all in the central control room once more, "that we may be in need for more bonding exercises."

Lance raised an eyebrow skeptically, and he wasn't alone. It hadn't even been that long since they left Catola and bid Princess Iva farewell. He was sure that more bonding exercises were the last thing on everyone's minds, as they had come to find the treaty item that alluded them. "I thought everyone had seen enough of everyone's head holes," grumbled Pidge, a hand going up to her glasses. "Who exactly told you that we needed more of that, Coran?"

"Paladins could always use more bonding with one another," said Coran with the air of wisdom. If Lance didn't know any better, he would have assumed that Coran was avoiding the question. "That is simply a fact. Beyond simple bonding for Voltron, the exercises we'll be doing today have a purpose." He beamed widely at them. "We're going to a wedding!"

All the Paladins looked at one another in confusion. While everyone else remained in shock, Lance spoke up. "I thought we were going to that planet with the really long name. What was it again? Round Table something?"

"Close," corrected Pidge with a smirk. "Rontolobalaix."

"Right, that one." Lance snapped his fingers. Man, that was a long name. "Why are we going to a wedding instead?"

Allura stepped forward, her dress trailing behind her. "We had already resolved to go to Rontolobalaix, as it is the closest planet to Catola that we can access," began Allura. "However, Princess Iva informed me last night that there is another place in this system that has advanced knowledge on the Kalafin and its whereabouts."

"Really?" asked Lance, perking up. "Is the planet still close by?"

"It is, Lance. In fact, it has remained mostly untouched by Galran influence by hiding in plain sight. Which is to say, that it is not a planet. It's actually one of the more popular moons of Rontolobalaix; Pas'ar."

"The informant lives on a moon?" Pidge perked up considerably. "Oh, that is so cool. I know we've been to a lot of moons for rest stops, but I don't think we've ever properly been to an  _inhabited_ moon. How did Princess Iva find out about them?"

"Apparently, she is old friends with one of the chief warriors on Pas'ar. The two of them intended to meet up in this upcoming cycle for a wedding. As Princess Iva prefers to stay on her planet until Princess Lilalim awakens, we will be attending in her stead," said Princess Allura.

"But why the  _bonding_  in particular?" asked Pidge. "We don't need more bonding exercises just to attend a wedding, right?"

"If we are truly to represent Princess Iva's planet, then we must represent the values of her people, and that means beings quite close in proximity and spirit. Besides, I've had a conversation with Princess Iva and her Whistle Pond. They've been quite insightful," added Coran.

Pidge wrinkled her nose at the idea. "See, the whole proximity thing doesn't strike me as particularly pleasant," she said.

"I'm gonna have to second that," said Lance firmly, his arms crossed. "Why do we have to be so close anyway?"

"The Catolians were very clear that distances were seen as rude by the neighbouring planet," answered Shiro from Allura's side. It was clear that he had been debriefed on this before hand. "If a wedding is truly taking place, then we'll have to show that we are also open to closeness. The best and easiest way to display that is to pair you all off. This way, we'll be able to avoid you unintentionally getting too close to any of the planet's natives. We wouldn't want any unintentional entanglements that might jeopardize future alliances, would we?"

Lance felt Hunk's gaze on him and scowled to himself. Guess he was going to be babysat. Again.

"Now," continued Allura, "as for the pairs, we've already discussed it with Princess Iva. She and the Pond have indicated which pairs would bring the most positive energy to the wedding." She smiled broadly as she waved a hand at the holoscreen so that it displayed three pairs of outfits, each one a pale white with the shoulder bands matching their lion colours. "These outfits were given to us by Princess Iva. She had intended to be accompanied by her fiancée and about four guards, but, as you can tell, the Princess is more concerned for her fiancée's health. She's been gracious enough to alter the outfits so they match you to your lions. Shiro and I will go as her personal representatives, and you four will be paired together, less as guards, but as couples."

Lance eyed each outfit, finding the blue of his formal wear hovering next to Keith's red one. Could it be a coincidence too? "I'm with Keith?"

"You are," said Allura, frowning a little at his tone, "and before you complain-"

"Complain? Allura, aren't we supposed to be bringing the good, positive vibes?"

Allura's look was firm. "And you  _will_ ," she said. "You and Keith are more compatible than you think. Princess Iva was only in your presence for only a few doboshes before she concluded the same thing!"

Lance knew for a fact that wasn't true (compatible?  _Psshh_. No way.) but didn't say anything. He was starting to feel like perhaps Princess Iva had more to do with his and Keith's pairing at the wedding than he initially thought. He pretended to ignore the disappointment that lingered in the wake of that particular idea. "But-"

Coran raised a hand from Allura's other side. "If I might, Lance," he clarified, "I'm sorry, but regardless of the feelings involved, I'm afraid that you and Keith must be paired," said Coran solemnly. "Pas'ar has a great love for colours. Red and blue in particular are the family colours of the couple that will be getting married. To pair you and Keith with any other colour would be an insult to the union."

"Seriously?" Lance felt his frown start to hurt his cheeks. Ever since that fortune teller had started talking to him about being destined for Keith, it seemed like everyone and their mother decided that they were perfect for one another. Since when did the universe decide who he was meant to love? He didn't love Keith. He maybe admired him (only a little) and found his looks more than average (maybe a lot, when Lance was feeling particularly weak) but so what? His disappointment returned with vengeance.

That didn't mean he loved Keith, and it certainly didn't mean that Keith would ever love him back.

"There is no other option," said Allura. She opened her mouth to say something else, likely gearing up for a lecture on the importance of duty, but Lance put up a hand to stop her. She was right. There was no other option. This was a mission. They had to do this in order to properly secure more information about the Kalafin. Calming himself and trying to lighten the mood, he grinned instead.  _Think positive_.

"It'll be fine, princess. We'll handle it. How hard could it be?" said Lance, locking eyes with Keith and winking at him.

The corner of Keith's mouth twitched up (Lance counted that as a win) and he turned away to look at Allura. "I hope you know what you're doing, though," he said. "We've never exactly attended a royal wedding before. None of us have."

"You're all lucky to have me, then," replied Coran, straightening his uniform with pride. "I actually do know a little bit about Pas'ar. It won't take us very long to get there, so I want you all to follow me to the training deck for some information on the planet, its people, and the customs you'll be expected to follow at the wedding."

They all nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm and walked with Coran out of the control room. Lance fell into step with Hunk and Keith, while Pidge had caught up with Shiro and Coran at the forefront to ask some questions about wedding ceremonies on Pas'ar.

"You know, I know that we don't have a lot of this diplomacy stuff down," said Hunk, "but I'm excited to be going to a wedding. Plus, it's going to be on the moon."

Lance scrunched up his brows in thought. When was the last time he'd been to a wedding? His cousins had been married before, when he was younger, but there was a fledging memory stuck to the edges of his mind where he could recall Veronica trying on wedding dresses. There had been a ceremony that he likely slept through, and then there was a party, wild and enjoyable on Veradero beach. Lance remembered Veronica's reception fondly, recalled the sweets he'd been allowed to eat late into the night and dancing with his grandmother at the edge of the water. "Man, me too," he said wistfully. "Weddings are so awesome."

"Are they?" asked Keith. "It seems like a pretty big deal, but it's just like a huge party for one day."

His heart practically stopped beating. "Keith, that's the best part!" Lance exclaimed. "There's food, dancing, a huge celebration." Lance turned to Hunk for support and his friend simply nodded along in agreement.

"They have their whole lives together," said Keith with a shrug. "I just don't see the appeal of holding a big wedding. Why not just make it a small, intimate thing, you know?"

"Keith, have you ever  _been_  to a wedding?"

There was a hesitation on Keith's part that Lance found curious, but he didn't call him out on it. When Keith finally answered, his voice was low and soft. "There was one that I was supposed to be going to when I was younger, but in the end, it never happened," said Keith with careful casualty. "Besides, I agree that the food sounds interesting, but the dancing?"

Lance paused, his mind turning over that tidbit of information before drawling, "Keith, are you telling me that you don't know how to dance?"

"It's not that I don't know how to dance," Keith clarified quickly. "It's just that I'm not really into it. I don't dance."

"I know you can," said Lance teasingly, curious to see if Keith would play along.

Keith raised an eyebrow in challenge and responded with, "Not a chance."

Hunk and Lance laughed loud enough that Shiro turned around to make sure they were okay. Lance shot Shiro his best thumbs up, and their leader rolled his eyes and faced forward again.

"Be real with me, though," said Lance, despite enjoying this playful side of Keith that seemed to like hiding most of the time, "you do  _know_  how to dance, right?"

"Everyone can dance, but I can't dance well," Keith clarified. Lance felt a smile overtake his features, and Keith groaned at him. "Don't get excited."

"It's too late. I'm excited. Way too excited. Hunk?"

"Lance is very excited," assured Hunk from Keith's other side. "Lance was a big dancer back at the Garrison, not that he had many chances to show off his moves."

"Please, Hunk, I was great at those clubs we used to go to." Lance shimmied his shoulders. "My moves got all the ladies."

Keith's eye twitched, but Hunk merely laughed. "Yeah, when you weren't making them laugh."

"Hey!"

Keith looked halfway between a smile and a scowl, but Lance couldn't begrudge him for it. He'd be jealous of his own skills too if he didn't already know how to dance.

"It's true!" Hunk was saying. "You may have been a good dancer, but then you'd get distracted by someone and mess up."

"Fine," Lance stretched his arms in front of him, "maybe I was… easily distracted, but I knew what I was doing. This wedding may be my chance to finally get back on the dancefloor after so long. Hunk, do you still remember that really cool lift thing we used to do at the clubs?"

"You did lifts?" said Keith incredulously.

"We  _used_  to do lifts," said Hunk seriously, gazing far off in a memory that looked both pleasant and painful. "We had some intense choreography that Lance made up," he eyed his friend, "not that we can do it now because we're  _not_  dance partners, Lance."

"Aw, buddy, come on." Lance draped an arm around Hunk's broad shoulders and batted his eyelashes at his friend. "Just once? For old time's sake?"

"No, man. You're Keith's partner now. Teach him the dance."

"Keith?" Keith stiffened a little as both of their eyes flitted to him, and Lance gave him a once over reminiscent of the one from the throne room just a day prior. Keith had strong arms, he used them to wield his bayard, and Lance knew without a doubt that Keith would be able to lift him considering how often Keith took to flipping him in the training room. "I guess I could."

"You definitely could," encouraged Hunk. "You guys could be great dance partners."

"Hmm," Lance seemed to genuinely consider the possibility. "We'll have to discover what kind of dance practice Coran has in mind first before we start deciding on other things."

"You assume that I'm going to want to dance with you," pointed out Keith, but Lance just grinned at him.

"You forget that I am very persistent." He stepped away from Hunk to bump his hip against Keith's. Keith huffed at the mild assault but was quick to bump him back. "Besides, you're not going to embarrass yourself, Keith. If  _I'm_  going to be your partner, there's no way you're going to look bad."

"I'm not embarrassed," said Keith first before shifting slightly. "You know," said Keith, "I just realized something."

"Realized that you are embarrassed?"

Keith didn't rise to it and instead said, "For someone who sounded so against being my partner earlier, you are awfully enthusiastic about dancing with me."

"Being your dance partner and being your date to a wedding are very different things," said Lance, easing away from Keith and hating the heat that was beginning to fill his cheeks. He didn't know why he felt embarrassed by saying that out loud. This was just a mission and he wasn't actually dating Keith. He didn't know why he felt more strongly about being Keith's date than being his dance partner.

"Right, of course." Keith's voice sounded soft, distant, and Lance might have asked about it if Coran wasn't filing them onto the training deck.

"In you go, Paladins," said Coran cheerily, giving each of them a hearty slap on the back as they crossed through the doors. "I hope you're all quite ready to give it your all today. Learning this dance will be integral at the wedding. It's one of the most traditional dances and will most definitely be performed in the early stages of the ceremony."

"Is that the only dance we'll have to learn?" Keith asked, his voice hopeful.

Coran rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "There are actually two dances in particular that you will need to know, but after that, you are free to keep to yourselves and enjoy the festivities that Pas'ar has to offer. It will be encouraged to eat, drink, dance, and socialize, of course," Coran's expression grew a little more serious as he said, "but I must tell you all the exact weight that colours are going to have on Pas'ar."

"I thought you said that they were just special colours for the people getting married." Hunk nodded in agreement as Lance continued with, "How exactly can there be more to it?"

"It's quite simple, really," said Coran, pressing a few buttons on his handheld tablet and pulling up the holographic image of their wedding uniforms once again. "The whole planet is made of Amayo, a living substance on the Rontolobalaix moons that actually changes colour due to individuals and their emotions. Amayo is actually named after what the Pas'arites call the Great Guardian, Amayorous. It has some fascinating historical stories tied to it," Coran sobered a little at Allura's keen look, "but I'm afraid I'll have to save that for another time. Regardless, the Pas'arites have been living, breathing, and eating Amayo for so long that they have gained similar abilities."

"No," breathed Lance, "you mean…?"

"Why yes, number 3." Coran practically beamed at him. "The Pas'arites can change their colour."

"They're like shapeshifters but just with fancy colours," gushed Lance. "Man, that's so awesome."

"I'm glad you think so," said Coran, "however this particular skill can prove dangerous if we accidentally use it to offend someone."

"How exactly would that work?" asked Pidge.

"Pas'arites cannot change their colours on their own. Upon hatching, their colour may range anywhere from the palest whites to the darkest of hues. Once they become of age, their colours settle, and they can no longer change it on their own."

"But you said they can change it!" Lance leaned against Hunk. "Does that mean I got my hopes up for nothing?"

"They cannot change their own colours," clarified Coran, "but their colours may be changed by other people. An embrace or an accidental brush of the shoulder can completely change the colours of any Pas'arite. A quick tap on their hand could change the golden skin of a Pas'arite a dark blue instead. Going from one extreme emotion to another can provoke a similar reaction in some Pas'arites."

"That's cool," said Pidge, "but none of us consume Amayo. We won't have the same effect, right?"

"Not quite. While you won't physically change colour, you could change the colour of any Pas'arite you touch. Each individual carries a colour, a unique shade that cannot be replicated anywhere in the universe. It's similar to your differences in quintessence. The clothes that Princess Iva gifted us for the wedding is actually made of Amayo, and once you wear it, the colours will change to match the colours inside you. The decorative pieces on the shoulders of your uniforms is merely to ensure that the people of Pas'ar know which Lion you fly. Since colours are so integral to them, the five colours of Voltron are very iconic and serve deep meaning."

"Wait, let me get this right: we each have a colour, and that colour is what the uniform is going to turn into?" asked Hunk.

Coran beamed at him. "Quite right."

"Does that mean our colours could be completely different from that of our lion?"

The look of pride and joy on Coran's face faltered. "I have to admit," said Coran with a sheepish smile, "I hadn't quite thought of that."

"Oh man, it is possible." Hunk twisted his fingers together nervously. "I don't want Yellow to be offended if I turn, like, orange or something."

"The lions know more about the colour of your quintessence than you do," explained Coran, "so they won't be offended. The real catch comes to offending the Pas'arites. The wedding will be between the chiefs of Pas'ar's mightiest villages, Chief Eliteo and Chief Angual. Where Chief Eliteo's colour is blue, her husband's is red. Their families, regardless of their quintessence colours, will be wearing the blue and red colours of their couple. The other Pas'arites invites will be in whatever colour coincides with their moods and quintessence." Coran turned to give Lance and Keith more pointed look. "While everyone is encouraged to have fun, I'm afraid the two of you will be stuck together all night. To get any colour on your clothes besides blue, red, or an amalgamation of the two, would be an insult to the couple. You'll only be able to encounter each other and members of the wedding party."

"I can't dance with Hunk?" Lance looked at his friend and touched his shoulder dramatically. "Our friendship is forbidden, Hunk. What are we going to do?"

"Always wear gloves?" he offered with a smile and Lance laughed.

"Good point." Lance gave Coran a smile. "Coran, can we wear gloves?"

"Certainly not! Any form of coverings on your hands goes against the Catolian traditions of closeness, and since we are representing them, we are representing their traditions as well." Lance peeked over at Keith as Coran continued with, "That means you can't be wearing those gloves Number 4. You too, Number 2."

"But they're so comfy," protested Hunk, but he was already tugging them off and slipping them into his side pockets. "I feel so naked," he said, splaying out his bare fingers. "Keith? Thoughts?"

Meanwhile, it looked like Keith was staring with a great deal of confliction at his hands. "Do I have to take them off?" he asked Coran, and Lance felt the words like a punch to the gut. Keith looked so  _upset_  at the prospect of taking off his gloves. He always had them on, just like Hunk did, but only  _Keith_  would be visibly distressed at removing them.

"Maybe they don't have to take it off yet," Lance said, trying to appease both parties but mostly trying to stop that horrifically distraught look on Keith's face. "They can deal with the real deal stuff once we land on Pas'ar, right?"

Coran's nod was reassuring. "Quite right, Number 3. Excellent point."

"Alright," said Lance, stretching his arms high above his head, "what's this first dance we have to learn? I'm feeling good about it already."

"You have the right enthusiasm," said Coran approvingly. "This first dance is  _spa'kiz_ , the Dance of Celebration. We'll be starting out with that. The dance doesn't necessarily require partners, so we'll learn it all separately first. The second dance is very much a paired dance, but we'll save that for the last half of the day. It's a little more… complicated than the Dance of Celebration."

Lance bounced on the balls of his feet. "Sounds like a challenge that I'm ready to absolutely to be amazing at." He wiggled his fingers at Coran. "Let's get this started!"

"Perfect. I'll put the dance video on the holoscreen, and you can all try to work through it. I've already learned the dance and have provided a step by step process for it."

"You won't be staying with us?" asked Shiro, sounding just a tad bit uncertain at the idea of Coran leaving them in the training room unattended with his hologram. "You  _are_  the expert on these sorts of things."

"I will be back in a moment," he promised. "I've just got to ensure that your outfits are brought in here, so you can all practice in the actual clothes you'll be wearing at the wedding. It will certainly help you remember the movements." Coran tapped a little more on the tablet and the image of their uniforms disappeared. Instead, the center of the training deck came to life, a life-size project of Coran appearing in the middle.

Pidge instinctively took a step closer to Lance and Hunk, no doubt reminded of her time trying to learn Altean and being scared out of her mind by being attacked by the bear-like hologram of the Klanmüirl. While Lance had never personally tried to learn Altean, he had heard plenty from Pidge about how dangerous the system had been, how it had come alive and almost killed her. Still, he thought as he regarded the hologram floating in the middle of the room, it didn't seem so bad. What could an angry holo-Coran even do? Talk them to death?

"Have fun practicing, paladins," said Coran, place the tablet on the floor and heading towards the exit while the hologram of Coran had already started talking about the type of dance they were about to attempt.

"Wait, Coran, is this dangerous?" called Pidge, but Coran just waved a hand.

"Dangerous? Of course not!" He laughed. "It's just dancing. This is no more dangerous than learning Altean."

If Pidge could get paler, then she would have. "Oh dear."

The training deck doors slid shut behind Coran, and all five paladins looked at one another with varying expressions of apprehension. The hologram said nothing and just smiled at them in a blue transparent mockery of Coran himself.

"Maybe all we're supposed to follow the video and learn the moves without the deadliness?" offered Hunk quietly.

Pidge eyed the projection warily instead, mistrust written all over her features. "As long as Coran turned on the safety, we should be fine." She took a small step out from her hiding place. "Probably."

The holo-Coran spoke suddenly, his voice just as boisterous as Coran's real one as it asked them to get into a line. The paladins followed its instructions nervously. "It can't be that bad," said Lance, trying to be optimistic. "Do you think it'll be like  _Just Dance_  style? Or maybe, instructional work-out video style?"

Holo-Coran pressed a button on his fake remote, and the training deck grew full of music. For something so celebratory, it sounded a great deal like the old Earth music. The beats were firm and rhythmic, and there was a series of potentially violin-like instruments squealing in the background. If Lance had to equate it to anything, it would probably be the awkward marriage of heavy metal and classical orchestral music. Lance didn't expect it to sound as good as it did. "Are we ready to begin?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Lance beamed at the projection and shook out the last of his stiffness. This was his element. He loved dancing, even if he didn't get to do it very often, and this was such a golden opportunity. If what Keith had disclosed was true, then it was possible that Lance wouldn't be upstaged here.

"We'll be started," chirped holo-Coran, "with your hands on your chests. Yup, just like that," he said happily as the paladins followed his lead. "Next, you're going to turn your hands, putting your right foot forward."

They carefully practiced the movements, twisting into new positions and sliding into others, for about ten Earth minutes before Lance began to grow bored. They were carefully shaped, purposeful, but so unlike the fun movements Lance was used to. Thankfully he was not the only one, as Pidge seemed to have the same idea. After a few more moments of dancing, she spoke, the first paladin of the five of them to break the silence. "You know," said Pidge conversationally from between Hunk and Lance, "this is turning out to be a lot nicer than I thought."

Lance moved his foot to the sporadic beats as holo-Coran instructed and smiled. "I think I agree," he said. "It's going pretty well. Kinda slow, but good."

"Do you think real Coran's okay?" Pidge asked as she leaned into a move that reminded Lance of a flamingo. "I feel like he's been gone a while."

He frowned, easing into the next position thoughtfully. "I don't know if he could have done better if his own video is our guide," said Lance. "I mean, the moves aren't too hard. For a celebration dance, it's not very complicated."

"Agreed. The footwork is easy enough," added Hunk, his hands up in the air, "but I can imagine that this would be a lot more difficult if they sped up the music."

Speeding up the music would make the experience more entertaining, that was for sure. Lance could only imagine how the dance would look at double the speed. "It'd be a lot cooler, you mean." Lance looked at the tablet that Coran had left, an idea sparkling across his mind. "Hey, do you guys think we could speed-run a dance?"

"Lance," said Shiro, and though his eyes were fixed on holo-Coran, his tone insinuated all the warning that Lance needed.

"Come on, Shiro, it wouldn't be so- hold on." All five of them did a roll forward, ensuring they got up quick enough to do the appropriate arm movements that holo-Coran was excitedly demonstrating. "It wouldn't be so bad. If anything, it'd be a good test to see how quickly we could adapt. Like good old training."

Shiro let out a measured breath and rolled his shoulders to the music. Lance could see that the seed had been planted, but before Shiro could say anything, Keith spoke up. "Lance, do you even know how to speed up the video?"

"I can try. Or Pidge could try?" He looked over at Pidge and fluttered his eyelashes at her just for the fun of it. "Pretty please, Pidgeon?"

Pidge smiled, the appeal to her curiosity not going unrewarded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." She walked over to the tablet and fiddled around with the buttons while holo-Coran continued to shout encouragements over the music.

"Speed-running a dance video doesn't sound like a good idea when it's our first time doing this dance," Keith said, although he was hard to take seriously when his hands were creating wavelike movements around his face. Keith looked so awkward that Lance had to laugh, despite doing the exact same dance moves. He looked so silly, thought Lance, helpless to the fond feeling in his chest.

"You saying you don't want to try it?" challenged Lance lightly.

"I already told you that my dancing isn't good, Lance," said Keith.

"Yeah, but we'll be going so fast that it's not even going to matter. Nobody cares if you mess up or look silly," Lance did a movement that was very reminiscent of rowing a boat at holo-Coran's request, "because we're all going to look ridiculous trying to speed up the moves. None of us are actually going to be good when it's going fast."

"Except you, Lance," put in Hunk. "Knowing him, he has the whole thing down already."

Lance looked at Hunk from around his own elevated arms, chest warm with happiness, and quickly blew him a kiss. "You, Hunk, are a true friend."

Hunk returned the motion with a wink. "Thanks, buddy," said Hunk.

"Okay, okay, I think I've got it," said Pidge from her spot behind the hologram. She waved the tablet a bit. "You guys better try to dance. We don't tolerate quitters on this team."

"Of course?" Lance finished up the flourishing jump that ended the dance and grinned at his friends. "Let's do it!"

"You're too hyped up," grumbled Keith, but Lance couldn't help but smile at him. This was his element. Even Keith couldn't bring him down.

"You're not hyped enough, Keith. Come on, Hunk, let's show this guy how it's done."

Hunk's laugh was more apologetic than anything. "This is gonna be too fast for me, Lance. If I drop out halfway, don't hate me."

"I could never hate you, buddy." Lance flashed Hunk his most charming smile and got into his starting position. He nodded to Pidge. "Hit it."

One of the things Lance loved the most about Pidge was that she never did anything half-way. As cadets, she had been their communications officer and had thorough knowledge of the whole Garrison training manual before their first simulation. Knowing later that she was also delving deeply (and probably illegally) into the Garrison database in search for information on her family just put things in perspective. Pidge immersed herself in her role at the Garrison and juggled her personal projects with a great deal of effectiveness. When given a task, Pidge fulfilled it to the best of her ability; she poured her heart and soul into anything she was asked to do.

" _Speed up the music_ " had been one trap of a request.

"Dance, McClain," cackled Pidge, watching on as Lance and Hunk struggled to keep time with the dance that was sped up more than twice as fast.

"Shit, shit, shit," Lance chanted, trying hard to keep up his rhythmic movements when his feet wanted to tangle with each other and drop him to the ground.

"I hate this, I hate this," said Hunk somewhere to Lance's left. Lance couldn't even be bothered to see if Keith and Shiro were keeping up as well. He didn't doubt that they would be able to, what with their constant training and endlessly toned bodies. They had been ridiculously fit at the Garrison –anyone with eyes could have seen that –and people didn't stop being fit just because they were in space.

Lance was so deep in his thoughts that he narrowly missed delicate hand movements associated by the sudden skip in the music. It turned out looking a lot more like he was trying to imitate someone washing their hands in a public bathroom.

"Oh god," he said, mind desperately trying to flit through moves in an attempt to beat his body but failing.

"Pidge, can we go slower?" begged Hunk, but Pidge merely laughed louder.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the music." Pidge put a hand up to her ear theatrically. "Did you say faster?"

"Pidge!" wailed Hunk, but Pidge was merciless, high on her power.

"Gotta go fast, Hunk." The music was practically a series of high-pitched squealing, really unattractive at this point, and Lance's laboured breathing was soon drowning out the music in its entirety. The rapid beats were the only thing guiding any of Lance's movements, and he was about to fall into what he was sure to be the fifth roll in the last eight minutes when the music cut off sharply and he fell onto his stomach.

"My, Lance, you've really thrown yourself into this dance, haven't you?" Lance looked up to see Coran and Allura standing next to one another, watching him from next to holo-Coran. Coran was holding the tablet that had previously been in Pidge's demonic hands, and he was smiling with amusement.

"Princess?" gasped Lance from the floor.

"That was some impressive work," said Princess Allura, and Lance cursed the fact that he could barely acknowledge the compliment because he was too busy heaving, the sound of blood rushing in his ears. His heartbeat thundered in his chest, and Lance, exhaustion heavy on his chest, gave both Alteans a thumbs up.

"Agreed," chirped Coran. "It was quite a sight to behold. I highly doubt the Dance of Celebration would ever be played that quickly." Lance managed to wink at Pidge who merely winked back. "And thank goodness for that! Imagine, all five paladins incapacitated by one very quick  _spa'kiz_."

"It'd be a shame, but on the bright side, we would be incapacitated and completely unable to dance the rest of the night," Pidge was grinning so wide that Lance was certain her cheeks were in pain as she added "which actually  _wouldn't_  really be a shame at all, so I rescind my statement."

"Nice try, Number 5, but I'm afraid that this is just what we've got to deal with." Coran turned to the group with an appraising smile. "Take a quick water break, all of you. I'm going to assume that you've all effectively learned the basics of this dance. We'll be moving on the second dance you're required to perform. The name is very difficult without the right number of tongues, but translated, it roughly means the Dance of Eternity." He gestured over to the door. "I've brought your wedding uniforms to the door, so change into them when you can and meet us back here in about ten doboshes for the rest of the training."

"Yay, another dance," cheered Pidge with fake enthusiasm. Her feigned cheer dropped comically fast from her face once Coran's back was turned. "I'm going to go and take a long drink break," she announced to her fellow paladins. She walked towards Lance, stopped at his shoulder, and looked down at him with a sly smile. "I feel like I've laughed too much."

"Karma," wheezed Lance from his position on the floor, and Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Nice work, Lance," she said as she passed him, making a beeline for the water pouches at the door by their wedding uniforms. "Your superfast dancing actually looked kind of cool. Almost made me think that I should have agreed to those club sneak outs you and Hunk used to do."

Lance relaxed back onto the floor and closed his eyes. He tried to focus on his uneven panting and worked to slow it until he felt the potential ability to speak return to him.

"Hunk," he groaned as he threw a weak arm up in the air. Everything felt hot and achy. "Help me."

Hunk's reply came happily. "I got you, buddy, don't worry."

Lance felt a hand at his shoulder and another in his outstretched hand help him up into a sitting position. He sighed happily, allowing himself to slump into Hunk's shoulder and rest a little longer. Maybe Hunk would carry him to the bathroom so that they could change up into their uniforms. That would be nice, he thought. Maybe he could just stop walking entirely. This position was comfortable and familiar and required very little thinking on Lance's part. It was practically perfect to his lanky, dance-exhausted body. Bless Hunk's kindness, willing to put up with Lance's sweat. He truly was the best friend Lance had ever had.

Only, he felt the firm warmth of Keith's chest against his head instead of Hunk's smooth, muscled shoulder, and Lance immediately opened his eyes in a panic. Lance could see Hunk on the other side of the room with his back turned, gathering up their uniforms and water pouches. Allura and Coran had disappeared to god knows where, while Shiro and Pidge had just walked past the sliding, training deck doors, their arms filled with their clothes. And Keith?

And Keith was cradling him in his arms. Again.

"Shit," said Lance, trying to roll away, and Keith let him, just as surprised as Lance was at being so close to one another. His pulse kicked up wildly again, face maintaining the intense burn from earlier, simply under a different context. "Sorry, Keith," said Lance, "I thought you were Hunk."

Lance could hardly hear what Keith said next with his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. "Yup, it's cool," breathed Keith, standing up quickly and quickly passing Hunk on his way towards to door. He swore that Keith's cheeks might have been pink, but that was likely more from trying to keep up with the insanely fast music Pidge was playing.

Lance felt like he was about to burst with embarrassment. "Hunk," whined Lance as Hunk, the real Hunk, approached him.

Hunk paused, countenance shifting into one of concern. "Dude, you feeling okay?"

"Hunk, why did you get the water instead of come get me? That was the most embarrassing moment of my life!"

"I'm not following," said Hunk, throwing Lance one of the water pouches. Lance fumbled for the pouch with weak limbs and waited for Hunk to sit next to him so that he could lean against his friend once more.

"I asked you for help!"

"I thought you meant getting you water! You really needed it after all that dancing," Hunk protested, gesturing as Lance poked his straw through the juice pouch and took a very long, drawn out sip. "Also, you're going to down the whole thing, and it hasn't even been a minute. Slow down."

Lance swallowed hard. "Sorry. The  _point_ ," said Lance, discarding the empty water pouch and eagerly taking Hunk's spare, "is that while you were being a good friend and getting this -thank you, by the way- Keith came over to pull me up. Only I thought it was you, and I practically cuddled with him!"

Hunk's eyebrows shot up. "You  _cuddled_? With  _Keith_?" Hunk took a thoughtful sip of his water pouch, flitting through different expressions until he landed on teasing. "Was I really that replaceable?"

"Hunk, you know that your cuddles are my number one," said Lance, bumping his back against Hunk's for emphasis, "but I was really tired! And my eyes were closed. I thought it was you because you let me lay on you sometimes, and I…" Lance sighed. "At least he didn't punch me out."

"We both know Keith wouldn't do that. Besides," said Hunk slowly, "did you at least thank him?"

A beat passed between them. "For what?"

"For helping you up?"

Lance went over the interaction again, spacing all his thoughts out, and shook his head as the realization dawned on him. "No. I just apologized."

"Maybe you should thank him," recommended Hunk, "and soon. I can tell you're overthinking it, and it'll just get worse if you don't thank him. You'll make it awkward."

The sound that came out Lance's mouth sounded like he was choking. "I don't make things awkward!"

Hunk turned around completely just to give him a fixed look. " _Dude._ "

"Okay, maybe I do. Sometimes. I don't know." Lance ran a hand through his short hair. "I'll figure it out, okay?"

"I hope so," said Hunk, turning back to his water pouch, "because if you don't and Shiro finds out that it affects Voltron?" Hunk blew out air noisily. "I don't want to hear another lecture."

"I've got it, buddy. I'll fix it before we get to Pas'ar. I promise."

"I hope so," said Hunk. "Now, come on," he said, standing up and giving Lance a hand. "Let's get changed up. These outfits are so cool."

Lance hadn't even really registered the bright, golden colour of the clothes in Hunk's arms. But now that he had, he couldn't look away. "And they don't stay this colour?"

"No, of course not. Watch." Hunk handed Lance one of the button-up shirts, and they watched as the cloth turned blue wherever Lance's skin touched it.

"Okay, now  _that_  is cool." Lance smiled at Hunk. "What do you want to bet that Pidge is trying to dissect her own shirt right now?"

His friend laughed, loud and happy. It was the kind of laugh that comforted Lance, soothed him with memorizes of the past. "It would be really cool to figure out how these things work," Hunk said.

"After the wedding," reminded Lance.

Hunk nodded. "After the wedding."

The pair of them headed to the change room and exchanged their sweaty clothes for a quick shower and the new uniforms. Lance tried not to think too much on Keith and focussed instead on the uniforms they would be wearing to the wedding. And it was easy to focus on the new clothes. They changed relatively quickly, in awe of the way that the white uniform changed immediately (and luckily) to their respective lion colours.

"Nice," said Lance, admiring himself in one of the long mirrors of the change room. The uniform seemed to have automatically adjusted to his body type but remained airy, a welcome change from his Earth clothes, which, in comparison, had hung on him like an uncomfortable blanket. Coran had left them Pas'arian shoes as well, which served much more like slippers and had Lance feeling absolutely light on his feet.

"This material is actually blowing my mind the longer I wear it," said Hunk, who had just finished slipping on his shirt. The gold all over Hunk's clothes made him look like the sun, and his smooth, dark skin complimented the whole look. "Amayo is freakin' amazing."

"It feels amazing." He turned to Hunk and struck a pose. "How do I look?"

"Dashing. And me?" Hunk struck a pose as well, and Lance held in his laugh.

"Gorgeous."

"I thought so." Hunk and Lance left the change room, chuckling every time they so much as grazed each other and marvelling the result. Every time their clothes so much as brushed, the uniforms changed quickly into a vibrant green before mellowing back into their original colours. It was fascinating just to watch.

"Do you think we'll all be a perfect mix of colours?" asked Lance. "Like, when Keith and I dance, it'll be purple, or if you and Keith danced, it would be orange?"

"Probably?" Hunk waved the long sleeves of his uniform together, admiring the gold. "I feel like King Midas or something."

"You  _are_ looking very royal," said Lance in agreement as they re-entered the training deck. The rest of their team was waiting for them, and they sat in a rainbow coloured circle by Coran, who was currently monologuing about something that Lance was sure was semi-important.

"Hunk! Lance! Come quick," called Pidge, standing up eagerly despite interrupting Coran. "I want to-"

"Way ahead of you," said Hunk, racing up to Pidge. They high-fived and eagerly awaited the changing of colour in the uniforms, however, it never came. The colours stayed solid and unchanging, much to the disappointment of both parties.

"Do you know what they were trying to do?" asked Keith softly as Lance came to sit next to him.

Lance merely shrugged. "No idea."

Pidge and Hunk frowned at one another. "We were  _trying_  to see if skin to skin contact would elicit any change in the uniform, but nothing," said Pidge, their voice growing more calculated. "Since we haven't consumed any Amayo, I can't imagine us having a proper effect on the clothing, although it was worth a try. I was kind of hoping that it would still affect our clothes even if we didn't touch them."

"If the Amayo is truly alive, maybe it would sense itself being consumed and make the appropriate changes in colour," offered Hunk. "Skin has to touch the cloth separately for the colours to change."

"As great as these theories are, we must begin the second dance," cut in Coran's voice. Hunk and Pidge pretended to sober up appropriately as they took a seat by Lance. "Allura and I will be demonstrating it for you, and then we'll have you all paired up for some practice." Coran took Allura's hand and got into their starting position. "Thank you, Princess. Now, paladins, I want you to watch very closely at this demonstration."

Which they did. They did watch very closely, in Lance's opinion. They were watching  _super_  closely. In fact, Keith, Lance and Hunk were commenting on the dance moves with accuracy almost the entire dance, despite a few giggles shared in between as they named the dance moves after Earth things. The move 'Silent But Deadly' was Lance's personal favourite, however after they made that particular name up, Shiro had given the three of them a very stern look that had silenced them for the rest of the demonstration. So all in all, Lance felt like they had been dutiful enough in watching very closely.

Except that when Coran had them paired and in position, he and Keith were looking at one another with the same confused expression.

"So."

"So," echoed Keith.

"I think we were like this first?" Lance turned around so that their hands could link together. They stood back to back, feeling the heat of one another through their uniforms. Lance didn't even need to look down to know that Keith's red was seeping across the back of his shirt and over his shoulders.

Coran had started the music off nice and slow, which would have been helpful if they remembered all the moves. They had the starting position, which was good, but after that Lance was trying desperately to recall the moves that followed. Thank goodness there was an intro bit to the dance, otherwise, Lance and Keith would be making fools of themselves. Granted, if they couldn't remember what the correct moves were by the time the first movement of the song started to play, then they were sure to get a lecture and be treated like fools anyhow.

"Coran was right," mumbled Keith. "We should have paid closer attention."

"No, we've got this," assured Lance, wracking his brain for the correct information. They had paid attention. Not, necessarily, with the intention of dancing to it; much more to make fun of it. "There were just a lot of steps."

"Do you remember what's after the starting position?"

"Not really," said Lance sheepishly. "Do you?"

Keith's hand squeezed at Lance's. "I remember the names. Kind of. But I've completely forgotten the moves themselves."

"Okay." Lance took a breath to steady himself as the music introductory music was coming to a close. "Okay. I know you have a good memory," Keith almost turned all the way around to look at him, but Lance persisted, keeping their hands in position. If he paused to think about complimenting Keith, he'd overthink himself right out of his plan. "Even at the Garrison, you knew what order you should be doing everything in, even if you screwed around. But dancing's not quite like flying, so we're gonna have to teamwork our way out of this," said Lance. "That's the only way to pull it off."

"Teamwork, huh?" Lance could hear the smile in Keith's voice and found his own mouth quirking up in response.

"Teamwork."

"Even if we didn't name the last bit of the dance together?"

"I trust you," said Lance. Keith's fingers tightened imperceptibly along his wrist, but he said nothing. "We might look like silly, but if I'm going down, so are you. That's a consequence that I can deal with it."

Keith snorted. "Teamwork, he says."

"Alright, alright." Lance listened to the humming of the speakers, the first movement of the dance approaching with every drum beat. "We've got to think fast. What's the first move after this one?"

"It's called 'Tug-of-War'."

Lance leaned forward, the word triggering the move for him. He was half afraid that Keith would miss the cue and let him fall, but Keith tipped forward too so that the pair of them were held by the tension of their arms.

"Next?" asked Lance as the music flowed onwards.

"'Turtles, The Chocolate Kind'."

Lance nodded slowly to himself. "Okay, let go, and follow my lead."

"Got it." They let go and dropped to the floor, curling into balls and turning until they faced one another again. Lance counted seconds softly between them and then lay flat against the floor on his stomach. "'Patrick Star'." They stretched their limbs, the tops of their heads touching. "'Weird Puppets', 'Kermit the Frog', and 'Double Scoop Ice Cream'."

Lance remembered the steps with Keith's hints, and Keith followed him with unparalleled accuracy. Keith might not have been a great dancer, but he was apt at picking things up quickly. Lance snuck a look at the other pairs as he and Keith went through the motions and laughed gleefully as Coran set to helping the others with their forms and moves. Every so often, Coran would point over to Lance and Keith as an example to be followed and coached the others into the same positions that Lance and Keith were performing.

"We are kicking  _ass_ ," said Lance excitedly.

"Are we?" asked Keith, breathless from the dance. The Dance of Eternity was faster in tempo than the first dance.

"Yes, Keith, of course we are." He flashed him a charming smile as they circled each other. "We've got to celebrate the little successes."

"If you say so," Keith said, finishing off the motion before saying another cue word.

"So?"

"So what?"

"The dancing," said Lance casually. "How is it? Keeping up?"

Keith seemed to be half in pain as he admitted, "This…isn't as bad as I thought."

"Told you I was a good partner," boasted Lance.

"I guess you were right." Keith's airy response was followed with, "we make a good team." Lance nearly tripped at that comment but quickly recovered himself. It was a coincidence. Nothing to worry about. Keith saying something like that to Lance… he must have misheard. Keith must have misspoken.

"Yeah," he said, his mouth dry, "yeah we do."

Keith gave him a smile. "'Cinderella'."

Lance snorted and got to his knees, hands moving dramatically at Keith's feet before he stood so Keith could do the same.

"Hey, Keith?" he said, trying to get the words out while Keith's eyes were away from him. "I really am sorry about earlier."

There was a thoughtful pause as Keith tried to work out what exactly Lance was apologizing for. "With the hand thing?"

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me up, but I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's…fine." Keith stood across from Lance as the dance ended. They put their hands out, palms hovering over one another's. "It just surprised me, that's all."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Lance laughed a little to himself, and as the song came to a close, he lowered his hands to grasp at Keith's wrists. Keith did the same for Lance and leaned in carefully. Lance echoed the movement, dropping down so that he could press his forehead to Keith's.

"Nice work." Lance had to strain his ears to hear Keith, whose eyes had shut completely. Keith was completely relaxed, no doubt glad the song was easing into its transitional outro.

"Thanks," said Lance just as softly.

He was so  _close_ , and Lance's pulse tripled with thoughts of a million reckless things he could do. He'd been lucky enough to keep his distance from Keith over the last year or so. The Garrison was one thing. Being trapped on a ship with him fighting an intergalactic war was another. Besides, they weren't just classmates or teammates. They were friends, which was why he was careful not to spend too much time with Keith alone, too afraid to acknowledge what Hunk had been hinting since their Garrison days.

So this? Dancing around, trading quips, being so close that Lance could see the flecks in Keith's gray eyes?  _This_  was so dangerous. Getting his hopes up was dangerous. Entertaining the fortune teller's idealistic, romantic future for him was dangerous.

 _Keith_  was dangerous.

And he'd just resolved to ignore it all as of last night too.

"I didn't even have to say the name," Keith was saying, completely unaware of Lance's inner turmoil.

"Yeah, well," said Lance, shutting his eyes and willing his jitters away, "I'm a good dancer. Also, there was no way I'd forget a move named 'Pacific Rim'."

Keith gave a short, breathy laugh, one that squeezed at Lance's heart without permission. "You didn't know I'd name it that."

"No, but I knew that I would have. What were you going to name it?"

"…Pacific Rim."

"Really?" Keith pulled back to nod, and Lance opened his eyes to see that familiar smirk on Keith's mouth. "Thank god we agree then. What a coincidence."

"Yup." Keith completed the customary bow the signalled the end of the dance as Lance did the same. "What are the odds?"

"The odds that we both think the forehead touch of Pacific Rim is iconic?" Lance chuckled and peeked up to smile at Keith. "In our favour, preferably."

Keith laughed too and opened his mouth to say something when the music cut off sharply. Both paladins scanned the room to see Coran and the rest of their team watching them with various levels of amusement.

"Hey, guys," called Lance, dragging out the vowels and he turned to properly face them. He and Keith pulled away from other another as casually as possible. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," said Coran happily, "nothing at all! We're all just admiring your technique for the dance. There were little pauses between the moves, but, for your first time practicing it, it looked quite good!"

"Thanks!" Lance nudged Keith's shoulder, watching as it turned purple for a moment before Keith's red swallowed it up again. "We're just that intuitive."

"We'll be looking to you both as an example," said Allura, her smile absolutely stunning. "Great work, you two. Do you think you could come over and demonstrate some of those dance moves to help us get them more accurately?"

"Of course, Princess. Anything for you," said Lance sweetly, sauntering across the training deck to Allura's side. "Which group would you like us to help?"

"You know Hunk and Pidge's style better, so I'd like you to work with them. Keith?" Lance looked to his left but realized that Keith wasn't there at all. Instead, Keith was still where he had left him, on the other side of the training deck, watching them with some unreadable expression. It was a similar expression to one Keith had shown before, and Lance still didn't know what to make of it.

"Keith?" Princess Allura tried again, and this time Keith jolted out of whatever thought he was in. He walked over briskly, cheeks coloured with embarrassment.

"Sorry, what would you like?"

"You'll be helping Shiro and I with our moves. Do you think that would be possible?"

"Um," he glanced over at Lance, and Lance found a matching nervous look in his eyes.

It wasn't often that Keith deferred to Lance for an answer, but Lance felt more compelled than ever to try and help him, to speak for the both of them. Maybe this whole dancing thing really did strengthen their bond, because Lance felt like he knew what Keith was trying to convey without speaking. "Because this is a paired dance," cut in Lance, "I feel that Keith and I should really be demonstrating together. We could help each group individually, but I think it would be more beneficial to show them as a pair. Wouldn't you agree, Keith?"

"Yes, yeah." Keith nodded quickly, his tone too hurried to be casual but Allura didn't seem to notice.

"Perfect." Allura took Shiro's hand and smiled at them. "You'll be able to help both groups fine, then. I have faith in you."

"Shall we take it from the top?" Coran brandished the tablet with his free hand. "Are we ready?"

Lance and Keith exchanged a determined look. "Let's do it."


End file.
